Backstory
by gladrags2012
Summary: What kind of madman is prepared to destroy half of London to get what they want ? Why do their ransom demands make no sense ? What do they really want ? Edward Dixon-Halliday's team have to solve the riddle before it's too late. Edward, Oscar, Rose and Carrie work together to solve the problem.
1. Chapter 1

**Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country.**

"You're a Libra aren't you ?" Carrie asked Rose. Rose was working at her laptop on the table. Carrie had the day's paper in her hands.

"What ?" Rose asked, only half paying attention.

"Your horoscope ?" said Carrie. "Don't you read them ?"

"Course I don't. What would I want to read a load of old rubbish like that ?" asked Rose, slightly annoyed. "This week you will make a decision which will change your life. Yeah right. I do that most weeks. It's called life ! They're so vague. They write any old drivel and you could match it to almost anything that happens in any week. The day they say anything genuinely unusual, I'll start paying attention," said Rose derisively.

"You might be right. Hm. Libra. A troupe of baboons will sweep down your road at 2:30pm on Friday, hurling fruit and insulting passers-by," said Carrie nonchalantly.

"What ?" said Rose, startled.

"Ha, got ya !" said Carrie, grinning at her.

"Oh, really !" said Rose, half smiling in spite of herself.

"What's Oscar ?" asked Carrie.

"Well now, that's a question !" said Rose.

"Star sign !" said Carrie. "When's his birthday ?"

"Early January I think," said Rose.

"Hm, Capricorn," said Carrie. "A delivery from Saturn will produce an enormous splash. Don't wait to ensure financial security or disaster might result," Carrie read. "That has to be the weirdest horoscope I've ever read ! What on earth does that mean ?"

"It sounds like a threat," said Rose. They looked at one another. "I'll call Edward." Rose picked up her phone and called Edward's number. "Hi, Edward. Have you seen today's paper ?" asked Rose. "Carrie was looking at the horoscopes and there's a really weird one for Capricorn." Rose read out the horoscope.

"That doesn't sound like a horoscope," said Edward. "I'll get on to the Head and see if they know anything about it. Thanks for the call Rose. I'll get back to you if there's anything."

Rose closed the call and turned to Carrie. "Edward's going to talk to the Head. He'll get back to us if there's anything going on." Carrie shrugged and went back to reading the paper. A minute later they heard a dull low booming noise and the furniture in the room vibrated. The boom was followed by a distant crashing noise. Instantly their phones started beeping their emergency call code. Rose and Carrie grabbed their phones.

"All agent alert. Report to emergency stations immediately !" instructed the recorded announcement. "Further instructions will follow," it added. The call ended. As soon as the call ended, Rose's phone rang. It was Edward.

"Rose, get your gear. I need you and Carrie to come to my house immediately," said Edward. "Oscar's coming with the car to get you."

The two women grabbed their bags which they kept ready at all times, adding only their phones as they ran out of the door. They ran out on to the street just as a car came down the road at speed and halted in front of them. Oscar was at the wheel. The two jumped in and he set off immediately. Rose noticed that there was no screeching of brakes when he stopped and no roaring engine or spinning tyres as he set off. Oscar drove quickly, but not so as to attract attention. As she pulled on her seat belt, Rose asked, "So what's up ?"

"Bombs in the Thames," said Oscar. "Huge explosion threw tonnes of water out of the river and into the surrounding area. Flooding all round Whitehall, the City and further along the river as far as Docklands."

"Wow that's serious," said Rose looking worried. "What about the Underground ?"

"Don't know," said Oscar. He was concentrating on his driving, so Rose decided to leave the questions until later. "Oh no !" said Oscar under his breath. Rose looked up to see a wall of water heading down the road towards them. It was probably only a couple of feet, but it was travelling quite quickly and would easily swamp the car. Oscar did screech to a halt this time, executing a hand brake U-turn in the road and going back the way they had come. The traffic was becoming congested and people were panicking in their efforts to escape the flood waters. Oscar looked left down the next street and could see more water pouring down the road towards them.

"It's no good, we're going to have to get out of the car," he said. "Hang on !" Oscar pressed hard on the throttle and the car shot forwards towards a raised walkway.

"Oscar ! No way ! You're not going to .." shouted Rose. Oscar drove the car up a flight of steps on to an overhead walkway and stopped.

"Everybody out !" he said. The two women unbuckled and got out. Rose looked down at the road which was now swimming in water. People were running in all directions and many ran up the steps behind them. People looked at the car parked on the walkway and some of them laughed.

"Nice one mate !" shouted one man. "Way to park !"

Oscar grinned and nodded his head along the walkway. "We'll have to take another route," he said. The three of them set off at a run in the direction of Edward's apartment. "Good job we're not on the ground floor," shouted Oscar to the others. They came to the end of the raised walkway. People were standing at the top of the steps looking down at the swirling flood waters below. It was hard to tell how deep they were. A fire engine was driving slowly through the flood waters. A fireman with a loud hailer was shouting instructions.

"Please keep to high ground. Do not stay on ground level either outside or indoors. Seek higher ground !" instructed the fireman as the engine passed. "Do not attempt to wade in the flood waters. Please wait until they subside before attempting to cross !"

"What do we do now ?" asked Carrie.

"How's your Parkour ?" asked Oscar. "Fancy a bit of practice ?" Carried grinned.

"Bring it on !" she said. Carrie looked around for a suitable route. She pointed down to the road. There were a series of large concrete planters along the road. They lead up towards a wall which would take them close to a building site where they had container sized offices for the workers. "That way !" she said.

"Oh no !" whispered Rose.

"Come on Rose. We'll help you," said Oscar quietly. They followed Carrie. She ran across the walkway and leapt over the railings, landing perfectly on the nearest concrete planter. She then jumped to the next and next planter, making it look easy. Rose took a deep breath and jumped from the railings after Carrie. She didn't make it look nearly as easy as Carrie, but managed to make a clean landing before also jumping across the series of planters. Oscar followed. He figure that if Carrie could reach a jump then Rose probably could too. They were similar in build. He had it easy, being so much taller.

Carrie reached the wall and leapt up, grabbing at the concrete and pulling herself up. She waited for Rose and helped her to climb up on to the wall. "I'll be OK. You get going !" shouted Oscar. The two women set off, Carrie with more confidence than Rose along the narrow wall. She reached the building site and jumped over the wire fencing on to the roof of a container. Rose followed and slipped slightly until Carrie grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Thanks," gasped Rose.

"You're doing great !" encouraged Carrie. "We're not too far off now." She leapt from container to container. Their feet made loud clanging noises on the roofs of the metal containers. She finally stopped at the last container in the row, looking down at the swirling water which separated them from the street where Edward's apartment was situated. "We'll have to wade," said Carrie.

"It's not safe," said Oscar. "We don't know what's under that water. There could be a huge hole and we could get sucked under."

"Well we can't stay here," complained Carrie.

"Do you have your rappelling gear ?" asked Oscar.

"Yeah. I always have it in my backpack," said Carrie. Oscar pointed at the crane tower in the middle of the site. "Oh yeah. Nice one," said Carrie. She pulled out a metal tube and put a roll of metal wire inside. She pointed the tube carefully up at the crane and fired. The roll of wire shot out towards the crane, falling between the metal cross-struts and falling through the other side, swinging round to anchor itself.

"Good shot Carrie," said Oscar. She attached a loop to the connection on the end of the wire and wrapped it round her wrists.

"Eat your heart out Spiderman !" Carrie said, leaping off the container roof and swinging across the remainder of the site, her feet inches above the water level, toward the roof of a bus shelter on the other side of the fence. She landed quite cleanly and did a little dance to celebrate. "Who's the Daddy !" she shouted across. Then she looked in her bag and tied something to the loop before swinging it back across to the two others. Oscar waited for it to come, praying that it wouldn't snarl up anywhere on the way back. Thankfully, he grabbed it as it swung over.

"You next Rose," he said. Rose wrapped her wrists into the strap and hung on for dear life. "Hang on !" he said, lifting her up and swinging her across towards Carrie. Carrie waited to grab her as she came across. Rose had to admit it was pretty good fun swinging across the water, once she had got over her initial fear. Carrie caught her and steadied her so she landed cleanly on the bus shelter roof. Carrie took the weight from Rose that she had brought back with her.

"What is that thing actually ?" asked Rose, looking at the metal object Carrie was using. "It's a bomb," said Carrie, matter of factly, retying it to the loop. "Oh. Glad I asked," said Rose faintly. The wire was swung successfully back to Oscar. He detached Carrie's deadly weight and wrapped the loop around his wrists. He had watched how low the two women had swung and was worried if his feet dragged in the water, the extra drag meant he might not make it all the way across. As he swung down, he lifted his legs up as high as he could. His extra weight made him sink down even lower and he got his bottom wet as it skimmed the water surface. He barely made it over the fence and would not have reached the bus shelter if Carrie hadn't grabbed his outstretched legs and pulled him the last metre, with Rose's help.

"Thanks Carrie," said Oscar, getting his breath back. "Now we've just got to get to the apartment." They looked across the river of water running down the road. "I think we're out of stepping stones," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country.

"_Thanks Carrie," said Oscar, getting his breath back. "Now we've just got to get to the apartment." They looked across the river of water running down the road. "I think we're out of stepping stones," he said._

Oscar took out his phone. "Hm, not much signal on it," he said, before dialling his Dad's number. "Dad, we can't get right up to the apartment because of the water. We're going to need a little help," he said. They could hear the murmur of Edward's voice over Oscar's phone. "Dad, have you looked out of the window ?" asked Oscar, sounding a little frustrated. There was a pause. "Yes, that water ! We're standing on top of the bus shelter, opposite." Oscar, Rose and Carrie waved at the apartment window, diagonally opposite where they were standing. The windows were designed to reflect light so they couldn't see if Edward was looking out or not. "Yeah. OK. We'll wait," said Oscar before hanging up.

"Dad's going up to the roof and will send a rope across for us to get up," explained Oscar, putting his phone away in his jacket pocket. "I guess he'll take a minute or two to find the equipment," he said, folding his arms.

"What were you doing at your Dad's ?" asked Carrie.

"I moved in," said Oscar. "Been there for a week now."

"Oh, that's great !" said Carrie. "At least you'll get to spend some time together."

"Yeah. He thinks I spend too much time in the bathroom," said Oscar. "He's still moaning about my aftershave too," he added, frowning.

"He's only teasing you Oscar," said Rose. Oscar's reply was a raised eyebrow and a shrug. Then his phone rang. He listened to some instructions and then closed the call.

"Dad's going to fire a rope into telegraph pole next to the bus shelter. We need to move over to the other end," said Oscar. They all shuffled to the far end of the shelter. There was a bang as a spike shot into the wooden telegraph pole next to the shelter, sending small splinters showering out at the sides. It was attached to a small pulley and two ropes stretched back to the rood of the building opposite. The looked up and could see Edward motioning them to come across. As they watched, the ropes pulled tight, and a couple of handles came zizzing across the street, dangling from the rope.

Carrie stepped up to the rope and wrapped the handles round her wrists. "Hope he's got a motor for this thing," she said. "I don't fancy pulling myself over." Just as she finished speaking the handles started moving up the rope and Carrie was lifted off the roof, up and over the still swiftly flowing water running down the street. Her weight pulled the rope down, but her feet stayed clear of the water. Oscar and Rose watched anxiously. Oscar wondered if he was going to get wet again. He was already feeling quite cold after his dip in the water when crossing the building site. They'd been standing in the breeze for over ten minutes now and the water was steadily soaking through his trousers.

As they watched Carrie reached the roof and Edward helped her over the parapet at the top. The handles swept back down and it was Rose's turn. Oscar helped her get her grip and then waved to his Dad. Rose also headed up smoothly. As she neared the top, Oscar heard a groan from the telegraph pole. He looked and was alarmed to see that the metal spike had slipped slightly. It was still quite firmly embedded though, so he hoped it would bear his weight. The handles returned and he wrapped his wrists firmly into the loops and stepped off the shelter roof. His weight pulled the rope down hard and within seconds his legs were dangling into the flood water sweeping down the street. He was now resigned to getting wet so didn't worry too much about it. He heard shouting from up on the roof and looked up. Too late he glanced to his left to see some sort of wooden crate coming straight at him, swept along by the flood water. It hit him on the leg, making him wince, dragged along his trousers and knocked him over to the side.

As he spun out of control, Oscar felt a jolt along the line and still dizzy and disorientated fell down into the fast-flowing water. His wrists were still wrapped up in the loops and he held on tightly as his legs were swept from under him and his head went under the water. He felt himself being dragged across the tarmac of the road, before banging into what must be the kerb. The water was muddy and filled with all sorts of objects. He tried to get his feet on to the ground and stand up, but it was flowing so quickly, he couldn't get his feet down. Eventually, he managed to get on to his knees which let him get his head up out of the water and gasp a few breaths, before his knees were pushed away from under him.

This time he was dragged into a solid object of some sort. Using the object as leverage, he managed to push himself up on to his feet, grabbing on to a pole. Coughing and gasping he found he was hanging on to a parking restriction sign at the side of the road. The pulley rope was swinging around in the water behind him. It still seemed to be attached up at the roof level. Wrapping his good leg around the pole, Oscar reeled in the loose rope until he reached the spike at the end. He pulled the rope as tight as he could and wrapped the end of it round and round the pole until he was able to hook the spike over the rope itself. Making sure he had his wrists tightly wrapped, he tugged twice on the rope.

The rope went taut and the loops started dragging him forwards. He staggered and tripped as soon as he let go of the pole and fell into the water again. Luckily the pulley hauled him out of the water quite quickly and he started rising up the side of the building. He had to use his legs to push himself away from the side of the building and avoid banging into any objects which stuck out. Finally, dripping and exhausted he reached the top of the building. Three sets of arms reached out and hauled him over the edge of the parapet and he sank down on to the ground, panting and shivering.

Edward hauled in the remainder of the rope and dismantled the pulley and tackle. "Come on, let's get inside," he said. He helped Oscar get on to his feet and then realised he was limping. Edward handed Carrie the equipment and slung Oscar's arm over his shoulder. "Easy does it," he said, helping Oscar to the door on to the roof. Edward didn't want to risk a power cut while using the lift so they had to climb down six flights of stairs.

"Right, shower for you," he said to Oscar once they were in the flat. He asked Rose to get on to HQ for an update and asked Carrie to make them some hot drinks while he helped Oscar to the bathroom. Oscar seemed slightly stunned so Edward had to help him shower off the mud and dirt from the flood water. Edward then realised that in addition to a few new bruises and scrapes, Oscar had a gash on his left leg which was bleeding steadily now that he had warmed up under the hot water. Oscar staggered to the toilet and vomited.

"Well, that saves us getting your stomach pumped," said Edward cheerily. Edward taped a dressing to Oscar's leg, put on his shorts and a dressing gown and helped him to the living area. By the time Oscar was lying on the sofa, the dressing was soaked in blood. Edward put a towel under Oscar's wounded leg and stuck two cushions underneath both his legs to raise them up.

"Should we get him to a hospital ?" asked Carrie, concerned.

"Two problems with that," said Edward briskly. "First we've got to get him there and second the hospitals are going to be full of people already." Just then, all the lights went out, the fridge stopped humming and they were plunged into silence. "And third, the power's just gone off," said Edward. "Stay where you are," he said, walking through a door next to the kitchen area. As he walked back out, the lights and other appliances came back on. "Emergency generator in the basement," explained Edward. "Luckily it's water tight in there. Just supplies this apartment." He walked over to Oscar who was lying silently on the sofa, blood slowly seeping into the towel under his leg.

"OK, let's sort you out," he said quietly, pushing Oscar's damp hair away from his face. He got Carrie to wash her hands, put on latex gloves and then hold a clean cloth tightly against Oscar's wound. Oscar winced when she pressed against the cut, but made no sound. Meanwhile, Edward walked briskly round the apartment collecting together what he needed. He moved a standard lamp over and pointed the light at Oscar's leg. Putting on latex gloves he started examining the wound.

"OK, doesn't look like there's any serious damage, but it's going to need stitches. Let's clean it out first," said Edward and he washed out the cut carefully with sterile water. Oscar winced a couple of times when Edward pressed the wound open to wash all the dirt out. Rose overcame her nausea and sat on the arm of the sofa to hold Oscar's hand.

With Carrie's help, Edward stitched up the wound and put on a dressing. Then he got antibiotics from the fridge and injected a dose into Oscar. "There, we'll have to repeat that for a couple of days and hopefully it will see off any bugs that were in the flood water," said Edward. Oscar lay on the sofa looking tired. His legs were still perched on top of the cushions. He sat himself up and tried to get up. "You stay there for now. You've lost quite a lot of blood," said Edward fetching a blanket, laying it over Oscar and clearing up the medical supplies.

Carrie put a cup of hot tea into his hands. "You drink that," she said, smiling. "You need to rehydrate."

"Right you two," Edward said to Rose and Carrie, "Let's find out what's been going on."


	3. Chapter 3

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. "Up on the Rood !" Well, spell checker only works if you haven't accidentally written another proper word. Sorry about that.

"_You stay there for now. You've lost quite a lot of blood," said Edward fetching a blanket, laying it over Oscar and clearing up the medical supplies. _

_Carrie put a cup of hot tea into his hands. "You drink that," she said, smiling. "You need to rehydrate."_

"_Right," Edward said, "Let's find out what's been going on."_

Rose brought her laptop over to the coffee table so that Oscar could hear too. She replayed them the briefing from the Head of MI9.

"Agent Gupta. I was hoping to hear from you. Your report of the apparent threat in the newspaper horoscope was correct. An extortionist is demanding money from the government and making threats of devastation. It appears that a series of explosions have been set off in the Thames which has resulted in widespread flooding, causing deaths and extensive damage in key areas of the city. We want your team to track down the extortionist and put a stop to their activities," said the Head.

Rose's voice could be heard asking, "Do we know how the explosions were created Ma'am ?"

"Our technical team are looking into it, but they are talking about some kind of compressed air burst. They have instructions to let you know as soon as they have evidence," said the Head. "Tell Agent Dixon-Halliday to requisition whatever he needs for the investigation. This is top priority." the Head's face disappeared from the screen.

"That was it," said Rose. "No messages from technical yet."

"We need to find out where the message in the paper came from," said Oscar. "That would be a start. And what other messages were there ? I can't believe the government were reading their horoscopes to find out what was going to happen." He shifted position and turned his face away from the others to hide a grimace.

"Did I give you any pain killers ?" asked Edward. Oscar shook his head, gripping tightly on to the tea mug. "Sorry son. I'll get you some," said Edward, getting up and going to the cupboard. He handed Oscar two capsules and a glass of water.

Rose started work on her laptop. "Good idea Oscar. I'll get on to the paper. OK, it says here that the horoscopes are written by Delphi Starlight. Well that's not going to be their real name is it ?" said Rose with a snort. She made a few phone calls. The last call was to Delphi Starlight herself. "Hello, I believe you wrote the horoscope for today's paper," said Rose. "Yes. Capricorn is the one we're interested in. It sounds a little threatening," she added. "Hm. You didn't ? What did you write ? Oh, well that does sound different. How do you send your horoscope to the paper ? I see. Well, thankyou for your time. Oh and by the way, what is your real name ? Daphne Brown. Thankyou Daphne," she said, hanging up.

"Daphne emails her horoscopes directly to the newspaper. I'm going to hack into their account and see what happened to her email," said Rose, typing away.

While she was typing, Oscar slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh no ! I'm supposed to be doing a simultaneous translation for one of the field teams this evening. I clean forgot," he said.

"Well, this is top priority according to the Head," said Carrie. "You'll have to cancel."

"I'll sort it out," said Edward. "Who's the team leader ?" Oscar told him and Edward went off to make some calls.

While he was gone, Carrie leant across to Oscar. "Are you OK ? Only, you look pretty pale even for you, and you usually look pale," she said quietly.

"I am really tired. I guess it's the bleeding," admitted Oscar. "Can you keep it to yourself please ? I don't want Dad to think I'm an invalid," he added.

"OK, I won't say anything, but he's not daft," said Carrie.

Edward returned. "Sorted. They'll get another translator in. I told them you'd been transferred to a higher priority job," he told Oscar. Oscar nodded in relief.

"What a weird way to send a threat to the government," Oscar mused. "What are they going to do next, put it in the personal ads ?" he said, rubbing his forehead. "Lonely guy lacking in social skills would like to meet large sum of money. Great sense of looming disaster," he mumbled.

Carrie stared at him. "What kind of painkillers did you take Oscar ?" she asked.

"Hm ?" said Oscar, as if he hadn't really heard what she'd said.

"You know. That's not a bad idea," said Edward. "It might be worth checking what's going into tomorrow's papers and see if there's anything unusual. It would get us ahead of the game." Edward got HQ to get access to all the major papers' production for the following day. They agreed to filter the stories and adverts for messages using their larger computing power. Rose continued trying to trace how the horoscope had been doctored.

Carrie helped Edward prepare a meal. Oscar was becoming more and more vague and eventually fell asleep, slumped against the side of the sofa.

"Hm, someone has hacked into the paper's email system and replaced the horoscope file with another. The time stamp on the file is later than the time stamp on the email. If you were emailing a file it would have an earlier time stamp than the email you send it in," she explained. "I'll see if I can trace where it came from. It seems to be coming from an internal email address," said Rose.

"Dinner's ready," announced Edward. Carrie went over to Oscar and gently shook his shoulder. He woke up looking startled, looking round as if he'd forgotten where he was. Carrie helped him to get up and he limped across to the table. Rose joined them.

"I've traced the email back through an internal computer. Someone's installed some malware which is using the email of the host. It's a unique piece of software. It's not malware that's generally available. Clearly we're looking for someone with good computer skills. The computer is connecting to an IP address belonging to an internet cafe in Soho," said Rose.

Edward grinned at her. "Good work Rose ! Have a break now. We'll wait to see what HQ come up with for tomorrow," said Edward. They ate and chatted about the day's events. Oscar was fairly quiet, but that was nothing unusual.

Rose's laptop chimed. It was an agent at HQ with information about the newspaper search. "Agent Gupta ? We've analysed all of tomorrow's editions of the major newspapers. The only possible threat was contained in a dating column. We've sent it to you. The technical team have traced the source of the information to an internet cafe in Soho. We're sending you the address," the agent explained.

Rose looked at the email. "It's the same internet cafe that we traced the horoscope substitute to," she said.

"The electricity is down in that area at the moment so there is no activity from the internet cafe," said the agent. "The Head wants your team to set up surveillance as soon as it becomes active again. She also wants you to act on this latest possible threat and stop it. Good luck," he added, signing off.

Rose read out the lonely heart's message. "Are you worth a billion in gold ? Mr Explosive would like to meet for all the fun of the fair before it all goes up in smoke." Rose paused. "The paper prints a contact number which diverts to the home number. It's being sent to a mobile number on a pre-pay phone. It hasn't been switched on so the team haven't been able to trace it yet. They're waiting on it being enabled."

"Are they asking for a billion in gold ?" asked Carrie.

"That'll weigh a tonne," said Oscar.

"It'll weigh several tonnes," said Edward. "You'd need a specially adapted truck to move it, and then it would only be able to move at a snail's pace. That is the stupidest ransom demand I've ever heard ! What are they trying to do ?"

"Maybe they just like blowing things up," said Carrie. "There's a big Easter holiday funfair on the Olympic park in Stratford. I bet that's what the target is."


	4. Chapter 4

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country.

"_That is the stupidest ransom demand I've ever heard ! What are they trying to do ?"_

"_Maybe they just like blowing things up," said Carrie. "There's a big Easter holiday funfair on the Olympic park in Stratford. I bet that's what the target is."_

Carrie looked out of the apartment window. "Looks like all the water has gone down now," she said. "It's all drained away. Wonder where it went," she murmured.

"What times did the extortionist send the two messages ?" Oscar asked Rose. She looked through the information on her laptop.

"The horoscope was sent from the internet cafe at 4pm. The personal ad was sent at 3:30pm. Looks like they get to work in the afternoon. The explosions in the Thames went off in the morning. I guess they get on with their next plan in the afternoon. Wow, they're busy !" said Rose.

"Assuming there's only one of them," said Carrie. "They could be a gang. I think they're just softening the government up for something big. I don't think they want the gold. I think they're building up to something else," she added. "The whole thing doesn't make sense."

"They managed to cause complete chaos, cost millions in damage, and injure a lot of people," pointed out Oscar. "People died. They've got to be doing it for a reason. I hope they're not just doing it for fun." He looked genuinely upset for a moment, but then recovered himself. "We're going to struggle to cover the funfair and the internet cafe between the four of us."

"I'm going to get in some extra help on the funfair," said Edward. "Are we going to assume that they're going to keep hitting London and not go anywhere else ?"

Rose and Oscar nodded. "They look like they're London based so far," said Rose. "They're using the Soho internet cafe. We've got to focus on getting the individual who's responsible. If we just keep stopping the attacks, we're no further forward."

"I agree," said Edward. "OK. I'm going to get HQ to send a team into the funfair to start searching. Rose, Carrie and I are going to join them. Oscar, I want you to get a night's sleep because I want you to start monitoring the internet cafe as soon as it's up and running tomorrow. You can't start patrolling the funfair tonight anyway because of your leg injury. Either Rose or Carrie can relieve you at the cafe in the afternoon, if you haven't had any luck. As soon as we've had some sleep, we'll be on standby. I'm not happy about leaving you on your own for so long, but the previous communications have all been in the afternoon, so hopefully, they'll stick to their usual routine. Ask HQ to run a monitor for you."

Rose, Carrie and Edward got geared up for their assignment at the funfair. Oscar got on to the phone to organise his surveillance session for the following morning. The power was expected to be restored around 10 am, so he had to arrive at the internet cafe by then. HQ would provide a communications control point for him. When he got off the phone, Rose, Carrie and Edward were ready to set off. "Where's the car Oscar ?" asked Edward. Rose, Carrie and Oscar looked at one another and Carrie giggled.

"It's on the Holborn overhead walkway," said Oscar. Edward raised one eyebrow.

"We'll show you," said Rose.

After they left, Oscar decided to call it a night. He checked if he could take any more painkillers. If he waited another half hour he could take two more. He decided to have a look at the cut on his leg while he was waiting. Blood had been seeping out into the dressing so he changed it. The antibiotics were due for another dose, so he took a couple of capsules of those, followed by the painkillers. Wearily he made his way to bed, wondering how the rest of the team were getting on.

Edward found the car where Oscar had left it. It was late so there were very few people around apart from council workers in the streets trying to clean up the mess before the next day's rush hour. Checking there was nobody watching, he drove the car back down the steps, hoping that the suspension would hold out. He couldn't complain, since the car would have been useless if Oscar had left it in the way of the flood water. Rose and Carrie got in once it was back on the road.

Edward drove hard to Stratford. The funfair was set up on the Olympic park. Two MI9 agents dressed in black met him, along with some uniformed police. "Agent Dixon-Halliday ?" asked the first agent. He showed them his ID. "We've started a search of the fair. We've got sniffer-dogs and electronic explosive detectors. The explosion in the Thames was some kind of triggered compressed air burst. We don't know what type of destruction they're planning for here," said the agent.

"Make sure everyone is careful. It might just be a trap," said Edward.

"Everyone is on Channel 22," said the agent. Edward, Rose and Carrie put on their communications devices and set the frequency. They could hear different agents talking to one another. They were working in pairs to avoid anyone being caught out by boobytraps. "We've started a sweep of all the fairground attractions," explained the agent. "We thought we should eliminate those first."

Edward nodded his agreement. "Good plan," he said. "What about the Olympic buildings ? Has anyone checked them ?"

"The police are concentrating on the stadium, the Copper Box and the swimming pool," said the agent. "We're dealing with the funfair."

"OK, Carrie and Rose. If you were going to make a big splash, what would you blow up ?" asked Edward. They looked around them.

"What about the Orbit ?" asked Carrie. "It's the tallest thing around here. If that went, it could fall onto the big wheel. They could all go down like dominoes," she said.

"I suppose they could," said Rose. "You'd have to make it fall over in exactly the right direction."

"It's huge as well," said Edward. "If it fell over in the middle of a crowded fun fair it could kill hundreds of people on its own. It's such an iconic structure it would be world news. Let's check it out."

The three agents jogged over to the huge twisting tower. "Wow, it's bigger than I thought it was," said Carrie as they got up close. "Let's scan it."

The all pulled out spy-pods and started scanning around the base of the building. They circled it completely and met back at the entrance. "Did you get anything ?" asked Edward. "I'm not picking up any explosives."

"Maybe it's not explosives," suggested Rose. "The Thames explosion was actually a burst of compressed air. They might be using something unusual: not explosives," she added. "Let's use every type of scan we've got." They all started adjusting the settings on their spy-pods and stood in silence, concentrating on the readings from the devices. "Hm. Are you getting unusual energy readings ?" asked Rose.

"I'm picking up high voltages," said Edward. "I assumed they were part of the power supply. It's a big building so I assumed it would have a high voltage power supply. Why do you think it's odd ?"

"Well, it's increasing," said Rose. "It should stay the same." The others fiddled with their spy-pods and checked Rose's readings."

"You're right. It's higher than the reading I took last time," said Carrie. "They're lucky they've still got power. Everywhere round here is off the grid."

"That's it Carrie !" said Rose. "This the only area round here that still has power. It must be deliberate. What are they trying to do ? Whoah, look at the power readings now. They're shooting up !" The others checked their spy-pods. Energy readings were shooting up. "The whole thing could go up. We need to get out of here !" said Rose.

"Evacuate ! The Orbit looks like it's going to go up. Get everyone off the site now !" shouted Edward into his communications device, starting to run back to the exit. They could see people running across the site, heading for the exit. The Orbit was now starting to make a low-pitched humming noise. Carrie glanced back over her shoulder in time to see red sparks starting to fly off the spiral metal superstructure of the giant tower.

"Run faster !" she shouted. "It's sparking !" The other two looked back and then ran as fast as they could. Suddenly huge bolts of red lightning started shooting out of the tower, zapping across the sky to hit the surrounding fairground attractions. They burst across the dark sky with screaming shrieks like an army of frenzied wraiths.

"Try to keep down low !" shouted Rose. "If one of those bolts hits us, we're toast ! Literally !" she screamed above the noise of the lightning bolts.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country.

_Suddenly huge bolts of red lightning started shooting out of the tower, zapping across the sky to hit the surrounding fairground attractions. They burst across the dark sky with screaming shrieks like an army of frenzied wraiths. _

"_Try to keep down low !" shouted Rose. "If one of those bolts hits us, we're toast ! Literally !" she screamed above the noise of the lightning bolts._

"How do we stop that thing ?" yelled Carrie, still running.

"We need to turn off the electricity," shouted Edward. "The park authorities are here somewhere. We need to find out where the electrical supply is and get it turned off." They made it to the park entrance. The rest of the MI9 and police teams were sheltering down in an underpass. The police were trying to calm their hysterical sniffer dogs. Some people in high visibility vests labelled "Stratford Olympic Park Authority" were looking worried, talking to the head of the police. Edward and the others ran over to them.

"We need to turn off the electricity supply to the Orbit," said Edward. "Where can we do that ?"

The civilians looked at one another. "The main electrical isolation unit is underground near the Copper Box," said a woman. She looked slightly dishevelled as if she had just got out of bed. "You would have to get through the park to reach the entrance doors. The doors have an access code," she said, scribbling a number down on a page which she tore out of a notebook. "Here !" she said, handing it to Edward.

"How are we going to get across the park ?" asked Carrie, looking out across the shooting electrical storm taking place in front of them. "It's lethal out there !"

"We need a Faraday Cage," said Rose.

"What's that ?" asked Carrie.

"Basically, it's a metal box. Once you're inside, the electricity can't reach you. It just travels around the outside of the box," explained Rose.

"What, like a car ?" asked Carrie, frowning.

"Exactly like a car !" said Edward, grinning. "Come ladies. We've got work to do !" he said running off towards their car. Carrie and Rose ran after him.

The all jumped into the car and Edward set off towards the pedestrian underpass. The crowd of personnel parted to let them through. "Here goes !" said Edward. "Ready to test out the theory Rose ?" Edward asked. Rose hugged her spy-pod to her chest and nodded nervously. "Keep yourselves clear of any metal parts," ordered Edward. Rose and Carried huddled in their seats, desperately trying to keep clear of the doors or other metal areas.

Edward drove steadily across to where they'd been told to find the access doors. A bolt of red lightning struck the car. Fingers of red electrical energy flickered all over the metal surface of the car. It was as if the lightning was feeling around the car, looking for a way in. "Ooh, not good. I hope it doesn't knock out the electrics," said Edward. "This thing's got an engine management system. Oh blast, there it goes !" he said.

"What's happened ?" asked Rose, sounding panicky.

"There are engine lights coming on all over the dashboard," said Edward. "Hopefully, it won't disable the engine, thinking there's something wrong with it. I don't think anything is actually wrong with it." He emphasised 'think' far too much for Rose's liking. Carrie sat in the back in silence. She was too scared to risk opening her mouth and saying something stupid.

Finally they reached the entrance to the electrical isolation unit. "We have to go outside," said Edward. "Any ideas ?"

"We could make a dash for it," suggested Carrie. Just as she finished speaking a huge bolt struck the car and the surface lit up with dancing electrical discharges.

"Any better ideas ?" asked Edward. There was silence in the car. Then Rose spoke.

"Carrie, do you have a survival blanket with you ? You know, those shiny things you wrap round you to keep warm," asked Rose.

"Hm. I usually do," said Carrie delving into her backpack. "What do you want it for ? You're not going to die of the cold if one of those things hits you !" she said.

"I think the film is metallic," said Rose. "It could act as some sort of Faraday cage."

"It won't completely cover you," said Edward, looking worried. "It might not be enough protection."

Carrie pulled her survival blanket out of her bag. Edward searched his and found one too. Rose was pulling hers out of its bag. "I think they spray them with a thin aluminium film," she said. "It's designed to reflect heat back into the body. If we crouch down close to the ground to make ourselves less of a target, we might get away with it."

"Might ?" said Carrie. "I'd like better than 'might' if I'm going out there !"

"You could stay here," said Rose. "I'll do it."

"No way ! We're all going," said Carrie. "If you're up for it Edward ?" she said.

"He looked round at her in disbelief. No, I'm going to send you two out of your own," he said. "Of course I'm coming. What do you think I am ? Wrap up warm ladies !" They put their backpacks on and wrapped the films around them. "Ready ? We need to check for traps. They could have wired the doors," warned Edward. The others nodded tensely. "OK, Go !" he shouted. He hadn't meant to shout, but the tension got the better of him.

All three agents opened their door simultaneously, dived out and slammed the doors behind them. Crouching down as low as they could and still run, they dashed for the doors into the side of a landscaped hill. Rose threw herself up against the keypad and hit the security code into it. The doors clicked and Edward pushed them open. All three of them rushed inside as quickly as possible. Edward pushed the door shut behind them. Emergency lights came on automatically. They flickered above their heads.

"Well, I had planned to scan for boobytraps first, but under the circumstances, indoors is good. Right, now we need to go carefully," said Edward, stuffing his space blanket back into his backpack. "This time, scan for traps," he instructed.

Scanning ahead and to the side, they moved through the underground chamber. "Here's the electrical supply control panel," said Rose, pointing towards a bank of switches and levers.

"It doesn't look like much," complained Carrie.

"What were you expecting ? Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory ?" asked Rose, amused.

"Well, yeah, kind of," said Carrie.

"It's just a bigger version of the consumer unit in the house," said Rose. "We're looking for the 'off' switch. Any ideas ?" she asked.

Edward had been scanning the area carefully. "Can't find any explosives or other obvious traps," he said. "I think we just need to switch it off."

"What about that ?" asked Carrie, pointing to a large lever with a plastic knob on the end. It was marked "electrical isolator".

"That should be it," said Rose. She looked at the others.

"OK, I'll do it," said Carrie. She pushed the lever down hard. It went down much more easily than she expected and she ended up jarring her arm. "Ouch !" she said, rubbing her elbow. The distant noise of electrical discharges stopped. "Let's have a look outside and see if it worked," said Carrie. The group walked to the doors and Edward cautiously opened them and peeked out. The sky was dark and silent. They walked out and peered over the top of the hill behind them. The Orbit was silent and still. All the lights around the park were now off.

The communications system crackled back into life. "You did it sir ! It's stopped !" said a jubilant voice over the radio. Rose, Carrie and Edward high-fived each other.

"Nice work team !" said Edward. "Can the rest of the MI9 team join me with the park utilities people to check out this power supply please ? We need to find out what's been done to it," he said into the radio.


	6. Chapter 6

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Definitely 'T' for abuse in this chapter.

_The communications system crackled back into life. "You did it sir ! It's stopped !" said a jubilant voice over the radio. Rose, Carrie and Edward high-fived each other._

"_Nice work team !" said Edward. "Can the rest of the MI9 team join me with the park utilities people to check out this power supply please ? We need to find out what's been done to it,"_

_he said into the radio._

The rest of the MI9 agents joined them at the electrical isolation unit. Extra people were called in who looked after the electrical supplies to all the buildings on the site. When it became clear that this was a specialist job, Edward decided they would leave the site in the charge of the other agents and go home to get some rest. The others assured him they would contact him immediately they had any news. He drove Rose and Carrie home and then headed home himself.

Edward was yawning by the time he opened his front door, carefully disabling the alarm system. The sky was just starting to get light. It was nearly dawn. The apartment was silent. He poured himself a glass of water and headed up to his room. After getting ready for bed he couldn't resist sticking his head round Oscar's door, to make sure everything was OK. Silently opening the door, Edward looked across the room in the half light. As usual, Oscar had a small night light burning in the corner.

Everything looked peaceful and Edward was about to turn away when he heard a quiet whimper coming from the bed. Oscar was hidden in the duvet. He seemed to be hunched up tightly in a ball. Hesitantly, Edward went over to the bed. As he got closer he could hear Oscar whispering frantically.

"No ! No ! Please don't ! I'm sorry. I won't do it again. Honest I won't. Please !" Oscar whispered more loudly. He became incoherent, muttering and shivering. He was obviously having a nightmare. Edward wondered if he should wake him. Hesitating for an instant, he decided he had to wake Oscar. As he reached over, Oscar flicked out his leg in a kicking action, "No !" he shouted. "Argh !" he called out in pain.

Oscar sat bolt upright in bed, eyes wide and staring in terror and pain. "Oscar !" said Edward, reaching out to hold his son. "It's alright son. You're here with me," he said quietly, trying to calm Oscar. Still clearly confused, Oscar groaned and reached out for his leg.

"Ow !" Oscar moaned, tears starting to roll down his face. He looked round and finally recognised his father. "Dad ?"

"Hey, it's OK. I think those painkillers were giving you bad dreams son," said Edward reassuringly. He wrapped his arm round Oscar's shoulders, but Oscar turned and leaned into him, wrapping his arms tightly round the older man and hugging him close. Edward could feel his son shivering and shaking. He gently stroked his son's back. "Shh. It's OK. You're at home," he said gently.

"Sh, she was there again," Oscar sobbed. Edward didn't need to ask who 'she' was. Oscar was talking about his mother. Edward sighed.

"You weren't dreaming about her locking you in the toy box in the dark again were you ?" he asked in as neutral a tone as he could.

"No, it was the other one," whispered Oscar. The sobs were starting to subside, but he was still shaking.

Trying to keep his voice steady, Edward asked, "The other one ? What other one ?" He really didn't want to know, but he needed to help Oscar. Oscar never liked to talk about his early life, and this might be Edward's best opportunity to find out what else had happened to Oscar.

Oscar whimpered and squeezed Edward so tightly, he could hardly breathe. "Woah, ease off there son. I need to breathe," he said jokingly, but wheezily. He was shocked when Oscar burst into tears again. "Oscar, what is it ? Tell me son. You've got to get it out," he said, desperately wanting to make things better for his boy.

"She was really angry with me. I stayed out in the garden until it went dark. I was having fun in the sandpit," said Oscar. "I was supposed to come in for tea, and my clothes were all dirty ..." his voice faded away.

"What happened next ?" asked Edward quietly.

Oscar's voice sounded distant suddenly as if he were describing something which happened to someone else. "She took my arm and pulled me upstairs. She said my dirty clothes needed to go in the laundry. I thought she meant to take them off, but she picked me up and sat me on the bannister rail," Oscar paused.

"Go on son. You're doing really well," said Edward.

"She stood there looking at me, holding on to my waist. I wondered what she was going to do. I didn't like sitting over the big drop down to the hall. She asked me if I thought I'd been clever. I shook my head. She stood staring into my face for ages and then she pushed hard and I fell backwards. I screamed. She grabbed my ankles at the last minute and I hung in the air over the hallway. I screamed out that I was sorry, I wouldn't do it again. I begged her not to drop me. She said I wasn't sorry enough and she let go of one of my ankles. Then she swung me from side to side. It really hurt my ankle," Oscar was now whispering.

"I cried and I screamed, but she didn't stop. Then suddenly she swung me up over the bannister and threw me on to the landing. It really hurt when I hit the floor. I sort of banged my head on the wall," said Oscar. "She said I could go to bed." He sat on his bed, leaning limply against his father, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Edward didn't know what to say. He held Oscar close and stroked his hair. "Was this after I was captured ?" he asked shakily. He could vaguely remember coming home and finding Oscar very quiet and limping on one leg. Oscar had told him he'd hurt it jumping off a wall. He had become steadily more quiet and withdrawn as he got older. Edward had never suspected why.

"No, you were still there. I think you were away on a mission though," said Oscar. "She never did anything bad when you were there."

"Why didn't you tell me ?" Edward asked.

"She said if I told, she'd make sure I was sorry," said Oscar, simply. "I was so scared of her."

Edward didn't know what to say. The more he found out about how Oscar's mother had treated him, the more horrified he became. He couldn't believe that the woman he had married could be this monster to their child. "You always hated it when I went away. I thought you just missed me," said Edward. "I had no idea you were frightened."

"I got used to hiding things," said Oscar.

"I'm so sorry son," said Edward. "I was blind to it all. I should have realised."

"She was clever. She was a spy wasn't she ?" said Oscar bitterly. "She knew how to hide things too."

"Why does she hate me so much ?" asked Oscar after a pause. "Did she always hate me ?"

Edward couldn't think what to say. "I don't know if she does hate you. I don't know if she did these things for a reason, or maybe if she was angry with me. I can't understand it. I married this vibrant, clever, interesting woman. She seems a million miles away from this woman who was your mother. I would never have let her hurt you if I'd known. Honestly I wouldn't Oscar."

"I know. It's OK Dad," said Oscar. His voice was low and sad and it broke Edward's heart to hear Oscar's acceptance of his fate. "The funny thing is, I still missed her when she left to join SKUL. I wanted her to want me."

"I want you Oscar," said Edward. "I want you very much. Please don't give up. There's a very select group of people who love you very much. We're not going to give up on you. Do you hear me ?" he asked. Oscar nodded. "Are you OK for this mission this morning ?" Edward asked him, looking into his face.

"Yes. I need to do something," said Oscar. "It's light now. I'll go and get ready. You should get some sleep. Sorry I kept you up Dad."

"Hey !" Edward hugged him close one last time. "I'm here OK ! Make the most of me," Edward said, smiling at Oscar. "Don't forget another dose of the anti-biotics."

"I won't," said Oscar as he headed out to the bathroom. Edward looked at his retreating back with a worried frown. Edward wondered if he ought to ask the MI9 psychologist to see Oscar. He was going to have to add this latest piece of information to the file. Oscar's file already read like a horror story.

Edward headed off for bed. He would need to get back on things this afternoon and make sure Oscar didn't tire himself out on surveillance duty.


	7. Chapter 7

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story.

_Edward wondered if he ought to ask the MI9 psychologist to see Oscar. He was going to have to add this latest piece of information to the file. Oscar's file already read like a horror story._

_Edward headed off for bed. He would need to get back on things this afternoon and make sure Oscar didn't tire himself out on surveillance duty._

Oscar adjusted his ear piece and microphone and went to the garage to get out his motorbike. The underground was still closed because the authorities were pumping out the last of the floodwaters before switching the electricity back on. He would have walked or cycled to the internet cafe, but his wounded leg wasn't up to the exercise yet. Even so, it wasn't easy getting the bike off its stand and starting the engine with one gammy leg. Helmet on, he headed out of the garage and started weaving his way through the crowded streets of the capital towards Soho. The concentration required to make his way through the streets blocked out any reminders of that night's flashback.

Oscar found some motorbike parking in a neighbouring street and locked up his bike securely. The advantages of working for MI9 included superior security devices. He smiled to himself thinking of the shock for any average bike thief who tried to cut through this lock. It was combined with a taser which would zap anyone attempting to cut through the bolts. "I'm now approaching the internet cafe," murmured Oscar into the microphone.

"Hey Oscar. Long time no hear from you !" said a familiar voice. Oscar grinned in spite of himself. He wiped the smile off his face as quickly as he could. He hoped people thought he was listening to music or something. It was Illya, his Russian friend who was now also a spy in MI9. Oscar had met Illya on a mission to a language school when he worked in MI High.

"Hi Illya. Good to hear from you," murmured Oscar. "Wish we had time to chat."

"Yeah, me too. How is your leg ?" asked Illya. "I heard you cut it in the flood."

"It's OK. Still hurts a bit, but I can get around," said Oscar. "Now going in. Speak to you later maybe ?" he said to Illya.

"Sure thing Oscar. There's a camera on the cafe too. You're not alone," said Illya.

Oscar had given up trying to disguise his limp now. He was glad to get inside the cafe so that he could sit down. He ordered a coffee and Danish at the counter and booked a morning's internet use, getting the password from the girl behind the counter. She smiled at him and said she would bring his coffee and Danish over for him when he'd found a table. He thanked her and found a table where he had his back to a wall and which gave him a view across the whole room. He'd booted up his laptop and taken off his jacket by the time the girl brought over his drink. She lingered for a moment and he thanked her.

"Have you hurt your leg ?" she asked.

"Not badly," Oscar assured her. "It got cut in the floods. Got to take it easy for a couple of days."

"Ooh, nasty," said the girl sympathetically. "We only got power back this morning. Everything has been cut off for ages. It's lucky we're set quite high up. A lot of places in this street were flooded out. Let me know if you want anything else," she said smiling at him.

"Hey, she likes you !" said Illya over the comms link. "She's pretty too."

Oscar had to do some emergency eye rubbing to disguise his smile. "Illya, do you mind ? I'm trying to blend in here !" muttered Oscar. "I'm going to look like I've got a whole bunch of facial tics !" He glanced around to make sure nobody was near enough to hear him speaking. He'd thought this morning was going to be boring, but with Illya monitoring it was going to be more of a challenge than he'd anticipated.

Taking a sip of coffee he surveyed the cafe and its occupants. There weren't many people sitting in the cafe. There was a couple who were just drinking and chatting. Two quite geeky looking guys were staring at their laptops. One was typing between sips of coffee. A woman was surfing the net in front of him. "Did you see any of the other customers coming in ?" Oscar murmured.

"Yes. They mostly arrived in the last 15 minutes," said Illya. "The man and woman who are just drinking coffee arrived 30 minutes ago. Nothing unusual. They all arrived on foot except for one guy who locked up his bike at the cycle rack at the end of the street," he added. "The two guys on their computers are surfing the net. One is filling in a job application for a computer company." At this point the couple got up, put their cups on the counter top, thanked the waitress and left.

Oscar wondered what he should do. "Can you warn me if anyone is coming in please Illya ?" he asked.

"Sure thing. You can surf the net," suggested Illya. "There are toilets out the back. There is also an emergency fire exit at the end of the corridor to the toilets. You may have to follow if anyone goes that way and tell us if they sneak out."

Oscar decided to find out what had happened with the mission to the funfair the previous evening. He'd been in such a state when his Dad had found him, that he completely forgot to ask how they had got on. He accessed the MI9 servers and read the file on the previous evening's activities. Someone had included photographs of the spectacular electrical light display from the Orbit. It looked astonishing and Oscar was not surprised to discover that his own team had worked out how to disable the discharges. He was sorry to have missed it. Blast his leg !

There was some detail from the subsequent investigation. The electrical distribution system had been adapted to send high voltages into wiring which had been altered to feed into the metal superstructure of the Orbit tower. Either there was one person who was proficient in a wide range of technical skills or there was more than one person involved. There was also the question of how much time was required to set up all of these spectacular stunts and the know-how to gain access to the Thames riverbed and the Olympic Park. Perhaps they had all been set up in advance so that they could be set off close together. It was all anyone's guess so far. "Illya, do you know if there is any more information on the blackmailer ?" Oscar asked, scratching his nose to hide his speech.

"Nothing more than is in the file," said Illya. "They're watching all the newspaper offices to see if anyone posts any more threats. We are hoping that they come to the internet cafe to make the post. HQ think it is our only chance to catch anyone."

"I probably won't be able to follow them if they leave quickly," warned Oscar.

"That is OK. We have two people in the street who are waiting for our word to follow anyone suspicious," said Illya. "You don't have to move further than the toilets."

Oscar surveyed the room again. No change.

"Someone coming in," said Illya softly in his ear. "Guy walking with a backpack. Straggly beard, glasses and woollen hat. Big coat like a pickpocket."

Oscar was amused at the description. He had no trouble identifying the man who came into the room though. Illya had described him perfectly. He couldn't hear what the guy said to the waitress, but he didn't get the same treatment that Oscar had been given. The man had to go back to pick up his own coffee. He looked around for a space to sit. Oscar nodded to him, but the man didn't respond. Oscar couldn't see his eyes behind thick spectacle lenses. He took a seat on the outer edge of the room, facing Oscar. This meant that Oscar couldn't see his screen.

"Hang on," said Illya. "We are adjusting our cameras to try to see his screen. We'll let you know what we manage to get. OK, we are getting a reflection off the glass behind him. The guys are adjusting the image so we can read the display. We are sending it to your laptop."

A separate window opened on Oscar's laptop showing the pages being viewed by the man in the big coat, which he was still wearing. He seemed to be viewing a variety of internet activist sites. Oscar wondered what type of activist he might be. The morning was wearing on and Oscar's leg was starting to ache again. He walked over to the waitress and asked for a glass of water. He limped back to his seat and took a couple of painkillers. The throbbing in his leg slowly eased off.

A few people came in and out. The man in the big coat stayed, as did the guy who had been filling in the job application. The rest of the seats were filled and vacated randomly. Oscar was starting to get bored and stifled a yawn, when he saw Rose coming into the cafe. He didn't acknowledge that he had seen her as she registered for internet access and got herself a drink and a sandwich. Illya's voice came over the comms link. "Hi Rose ! Nice to see you again." Rose smiled as she set up her laptop at the table beside Oscar's. It was the best position to monitor the room from.

"I need to visit the toilets," muttered Oscar, bending down to rummage in his bag to disguise his speech. "I'll head off afterwards. Good luck Rose," he added. He was feeling tired as he limped out to the toilets. He heard someone coming up behind him and glanced round, his spy training kicking in automatically. It was the guy with the big coat and straggly beard. Oscar let him pass. The guy went into the toilets and Oscar followed. Oscar hung back and let the guy leave before him too. "The guy with the big coat used the toilets and is heading back to the cafe," reported Oscar into his microphone.

"Thanks Oscar," said Illya. "We've got him back in our sight now."

Oscar nodded, without thinking about it. There was nobody around, so he wandered down towards the fire exit. He looked around the door, but couldn't see anything unusual. "Nothing obvious back here," he reported. Suddenly he felt a sting in the back of his neck. "Ouch !" He felt round his neck, but instantly felt dizzy. "No .." he muttered as the world sank into darkness and he slumped to the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story.

"_Thanks Oscar," said Illya. "We've got him back in our sight now."_

_Oscar nodded, without thinking about it. There was nobody around, so he wandered down towards the fire exit. He looked around the door, but couldn't see anything unusual. "Nothing obvious back here," he reported. Suddenly he felt a sting in the back of his neck. "Ouch !" He felt round his neck, but instantly felt dizzy. "No .." he muttered as the world sank into darkness and he slumped to the floor. _

Edward was at HQ when he got a panicked phone call from Illya. "Agent Dixon-Halliday, it is you ?" asked an accented voice. Edward said it was. "This is Agent Illya Gordovski, I am the communication monitor for the surveillance on the internet cafe linked to the recent attacks on the city. I need to tell you, we have lost Oscar," Illya reported.

"What do you mean, you've lost Oscar ?" asked Edward, his concern rising.

"When Rose came to take over, Oscar went to the toilets. He spoke to me on the way there, he reported on one person who also went to the toilet and returned and then I heard him say 'Ouch' and then he became silent. I spoke to him but there was no answer. I asked Rose to take a look. She went to the corridor and it was empty. Oscar had gone," explained Illya. "I am so sorry. Our agents went to the alley behind the building and a van drove out quickly, but they were unable to stop it. We are trying to track down the van, but have not found it," he added. "I am so sorry." He sounded upset. Edward remembered Illya as a friend of Oscar's from his days in MI High.

"It's not your fault Illya. Thankyou for telling me. Is Rose still there ?" Edward asked.

"Yes. We have also added Carrie as backup for Rose," said Illya. "We are still waiting for the suspect to make the internet posting."

"Has anyone placed any suspicious advert or posting yet ?" asked Edward.

"No. The papers have not received anything either. Oh, wait, there is something. Oh no. Agent Dixon-Halliday, you need to read this. It has just been posted to the newspaper for the evening edition," warned Illya.

Edward pulled out his laptop. Logging on he checked his email. There was a message with a link attached. He opened the link and read the message. The colour drained from his face. The message read:

'Dearest Edward. We have something of yours. Your property will be returned once you alone attend this address. Otherwise your property will be disposed of at noon.'

There followed an address in East London. Edward stared at the message in silence for a minute. "Illya, please find the source of this posting. I will speak to the Head," said Edward. Closing the call, Edward called the Head of MI9. "Ma'am, we believe the extortionist has taken Agent Cole hostage and is demanding that I attend to them in order to have him returned," said Edward.

"How is this possible ?" asked the Head.

"He was taken from the internet cafe where he was on surveillance duty," said Edward. "The agents on duty are trying to trace a van which left the back of the building at speed, but haven't been able to track it down yet. A demand was posted shortly afterwards to a newspaper whose communications we were monitoring," he explained.

"Are there any suspects," asked the Head.

"I'm waiting to hear," said Edward. There was a silence at the other end of the phone.

"Do you think this was planned ?" asked the Head.

"I'm wondering if they were expecting someone from our team to carry out surveillance at that address," said Edward. "Perhaps they realised we would track the messages to the internet cafe and were waiting for anyone who turned up. They may not realise that Agent Cole is my son."

"Are you just being optimistic ?" asked the Head.

"Probably," admitted Edward. "In any case, I'm not going to tell them !"

"I will make sure that all of our communications do not mention it," promised the Head. "Do what you need to do, Agent Dixon-Halliday. However, I do not want to lose two good agents," she added. She hung up.

An hour later, Edward was sitting with Rose, Carrie and Illya. It was a very sombre gathering. "I can't believe they took him from right under our noses !" said Rose dejectedly. "Do you think that was what it was all about ?" she asked Edward.

"It's possible. They may have just wanted to take any MI9 agent hostage. It looks like they want me," said Edward. "They haven't mentioned Oscar being my son, so they may not realise. We have to keep that quiet for now, OK ?" They all nodded.

"Could they really have caused all this havoc, just to get hold of you ?" asked Carrie. "Seems like overkill to me."

"Do you think it might be Jade ?" asked Rose.

Edward shook his head. "I don't think she would send a message like that. She would know who Oscar is," he said. "Do we know anything about the source of the message ?" he asked.

"That's the crazy thing," complained Illya. "The message was traced to the internet cafe IP address, but we monitored all of the laptops being used in the cafe, and none of them sent that message."

"It wasn't sent from an internet enabled phone ?" asked Carrie.

"That would have a different IP address," explained Rose. "It definitely came off the cafe's WiFi, but none of the devices we were monitoring sent it."

"Then there must have been another device that we weren't monitoring," said Carrie. "Can we search the cafe ? It's closed now isn't it ?"

"Good idea Carrie. Let's go through the place," said Edward. A short time later, the team arrived at the cafe in an MI9 black van which pulled into the alley behind the cafe. Two MI9 technical experts were with them.

They used skeleton keys to get access to the building through the fire door. One of the technical team attached a reflective projection on to the cafe window so that anyone looking in from the dark street would see only the projection of an empty cafe, a reflection of themselves and the street. Then the rest of the team poured in and started working their way through the building. They were looking for any additional computer equipment in the building. Carrie searched the corridor and found a small dart. She put it in a bag and showed it to Edward. "Looks like a sedative dart," she said to Edward. "That explains how they managed to get Oscar out so quietly. Doesn't explain who did it though."

The toilets were clear, as were the storage rooms. There was no access to the upstairs rooms which belonged to the building next door. "Do you think someone could use the WiFi from upstairs ?" Carrie asked Rose.

"Not unless they had the password," said Rose. "These places usually change the password regularly to prevent people using the bandwidth without permission," she explained. "It's possible, but they would probably need inside help."

"What about the till ?" asked Carrie. "That's basically a computer isn't it ?" she asked.

Rose looked at her. "I never thought about that. Let's have a look," said Rose. She and one of the technical team managed to gain access to the till. It was a complex stock monitoring system which was able to order supplies automatically as well as record sales. It did have a connection through the WiFi. "It's here," said Rose. "Edward, look at this."

Edward came over to have a look. There in the system was the message which had been sent to the newspaper. It had been sent almost immediately after Oscar disappeared. "The waitress !" said Illya and Rose together. "We never monitored what the waitress was doing," said Illya. He pulled out his laptop and found their monitoring footage of the cafe from the time when Oscar disappeared. They gathered round and watched as Oscar got up and limped out of the door, followed by the man in the big coat. For the first time they paid attention to the waitress as she watched the second man return. Immediately she slipped through her door into the corridor. She returned shortly afterwards, slipping a mobile phone into her apron pocket. She watched Rose get up and leave the room only to return a few minutes later.

"She was expecting us. She must have realised Oscar was an agent," said Rose. "This was a set-up. Do you think all of this was to get to you Edward ?"

"I don't know, but it's starting to look that way," admitted Edward. He stared hard at the video image of the waitress. "She's kind of familiar," he said. "Can't place her. Can you enlarge it please Illya ?" he asked. Illya enlarged the image and did what he could to enhance it.

"There is better software at HQ," he said. "That is the best I can do." They all looked at the best image they had of the waitress. She was a pretty, dark-haired woman in her twenties. Edward shook his head.

"We should get this processed at HQ," said Illya.

"You're right. It's our best lead," agreed Edward. "Rose will you please do what you can to trace this woman's identity. Illya, can you please get the best image you can from this photo and help Rose ? Carrie, I would like you to come with me and carry out some reconnaissance of the address they gave me. We're not going to go anywhere near the place. I don't want anyone else to be taken. No more hostages," he said. "Let's get moving people. We don't have much time."


	9. Chapter 9

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story. It's cracking on fairly well at the moment, so you may as well get the chapters I've finished. I probably won't be able to keep it up though.

"_Rose will you please do what you can to trace this woman's identity. Illya, can you please get the best image you can from this photo and help Rose ? Carrie, I would like you to come with me and carry out some reconnaissance of the address they gave me. We're not going to go anywhere near the place. I don't want anyone else to be taken. No more hostages," he said. "Let's get moving people. We don't have much time."_

Oscar woke up feeling rather dopey and dizzy, tied to a chair in a cold, empty cellar. The walls were brick and the only window was a tiny one high up in the wall behind him, covered by bars. One small, dim light bulb lit the room. His hands were tied firmly behind his back, his ankles were trussed to the chair and he was gagged. His leg hurt. He noticed that it was bleeding through the dressing again. He looked up as the door opened and the waitress from the cafe entered the room. His eyes widened with shock.

"Agent Cole, I believe," she said. Oscar noticed that she had a slight accent. It sounded like a southern African accent. He hadn't noticed it before. "I'm sorry about your current situation. This is not anything to do with you. We merely need some collateral to obtain what we want. When your superior does as we ask you should be free to go," said the waitress.

Oscar shifted position and jarred his leg. He winced. "I'm am sorry about the leg injury. My associates must have knocked it when they were moving you from the cafe. I have to go. We have preparations to make," said the woman. She switched off the light and left the room. Oscar shivered under the shaft of dim light from the window.

Rose and Illya spent half an hour trying to enhance the best image they had of the waitress from the internet cafe. Illya also got hold of the internet cafe's owners to try to get some information on the waitress. She had only been working at the cafe for one week and they passed on what information she had given them. The address turned out to be false. Her passport and work permit were fake and her references were made up. By the time they had finished enhancing the photo, Rose ran it through the MI9 database to see if she could come up with a match. When she got the results she called in Edward.

She showed him the enhanced photo. He had a niggling sense that he had seen the woman before, but couldn't place her. Rose showed him the partial match she had obtained off the database. The woman on the database had been part of an international terrorist group based in Africa and had been killed ten years previously. "Did you know her ?" asked Rose.

Edward stroked his chin. "I didn't work on this mission," he said. "I did pass on some information relating to the case, but I wasn't actually part of the operation," he added. "I think this woman was one of the people I was asked to investigate. She was part of a terrorist group operating in Southern Africa. I seem to remember there was a massive shoot-out when they tried to capture the core members where they were hiding out in Milawi." He sighed in frustration and checked his watch. "Rose, can you pull out the files on this and see if you can find out if she had a daughter or younger sister please ? I need to know what this woman is trying to achieve. I can't afford to leave it until too late. We need to move quickly."

Rose got back to the computer and Illya offered to help. Edward went back to where he'd left Carrie checking out street plans and building layouts. "It's off Brick Lane," said Carrie. "Handy if you want a Balti," she added. "These are all small brick built buildings. Not so surprising really. It's quite a busy area. I would have thought they would have gone for somewhere quieter. It can't be easy dragging unconscious bodies around here without being seen." She pulled up another schematic. "This is the address you were told to go to. It's just an ordinary terraced house, with a cellar and attic rooms according to the plans the council have. Next door is a bit more interesting though. They've got a mews entrance for garaging cars. It would be much easier to bring someone in through there. They could be using both the properties," she said.

"What about the electricity usage ?" asked Edward. Carrie searched some more databases and pulled up the electricity profile from their energy supplier. "The address you've been given has a very high energy usage for a small property in this area," said Carrie. "The building next door has a much more normal domestic profile. Hm that's weird. The building on the other side of it is going through power like there's no tomorrow as well. They could be using a whole row of these houses knocked together. I've asked Technical to run a check on deliveries to both these first addresses. I'm waiting for them to get back to me."

Carrie's phone rang. "Yes, send it through please. Thanks," she said, closing the call. "They've got the deliveries information for us." She pulled up a file on her screen. "Wow, loads of deliveries !" She and Edward looked closely at the list of deliveries made in the last couple of months to the two addresses. "They've been ordering loads of stuff from trade electrical suppliers. That would explain the Olympic Park setup. They've bought stuff from deep sea diving suppliers. That must be the compressed gas explosion. The most recent stuff seems to be computing equipment. They seem to have money to burn. Wonder what they're up to ?" mused Carrie.

Edward looked at the list of equipment. Finally he got out his phone and called the Head. "Ma'am, we've been checking on the equipment deliveries which have been made to the address where we have been told to find Agent Cole. Their purchases match with the two previous attacks on the city. The other purchases were all of computer equipment. I think it would be worth Technical checking for unusual computing activity in the last few weeks. It's possible that all of these attacks are a cover for some covert hacking. The address also has unusually high electricity usage which suggests the computing equipment is being used there."

"Do you have any other leads ?" asked the Head.

"We think the woman who helped to capture Agent Cole is a Southern African, possibly linked with the old terrorist movement in Africa which MI9 helped to close down ten years ago. She bears a close resemblance to one of the people who was killed in the attack on their secret base," explained Edward. "Agents Gupta and Gordovski are going through the details now," he added.

"I'll have more of the teams support them," promised the Head. "What are you going to do about Agent Cole ?"

"I'm going to have to go in," said Edward. "They've threatened to kill him at noon tomorrow if I don't." He checked his watch. "The longer I leave it, the more prepared they are going to be."

"Well, in that case we must also be prepared," said the Head. "I have made arrangements for you in the Technical Department. Please report there before you leave. We also need to arrange your support." Edward agreed and closed the call. He turned to Carrie.

"I need to go and get Oscar released. He's missed two doses of antibiotics now. I'm worried about his wound. That flood water was laden with dirt and goodness knows what else," he said. "I hope they don't realise he's my son." Carrie reached over and squeezed his arm.

"They haven't got any reason to find out," she said reassuringly. "You'd better go and get ready. We'll sort out an ambulance, just in case."

An hour later, Edward stepped out of the ambulance which parked opposite the East London address he had been given. It was the early hours of the morning and the street was dark and deserted. He could hear people moving about in the neighbouring streets, probably returning home after nights out or returning from work in the many restaurants in the area. He walked across the street towards the address he'd been told to come to. He surveyed the building as he walked. It was narrow, but at least three storeys high. He looked down and saw a small window down below street level, presumably into a cellar. He climbed three steps to the front door and was about to ring the bell when the door opened.

A woman stood in the doorway. It was the waitress from the internet cafe. She was pointing a gun at him. "Agent Dixon-Halliday ?" she asked, glancing around him into the street. Edward nodded. "You were told to come alone," she said.

"It's an ambulance waiting to collect my agent," said Edward. "The deal was a swap. Where is my agent ?" he asked calmly.

"We have not harmed him," she said.

"I want to see him," said Edward.

She pressed a button on the wall beside her. "Bring him up to the door," she instructed.

She didn't move the gun which remained pointing at Edward. They stood in silence. It was several minutes before he heard movements behind her. He tried not to look as anxious as he was feeling when Oscar finally came into view. He was gagged and it looked like his hands were tied behind his back. He was being supported on either side by two men wearing ski masks as he made slow progress along the hall. His trouser leg was soaked in blood again. When he got close enough, Edward could see that Oscar's face was pale and he was shivering. Walking was clearly difficult.

"You see. We have kept our side of the bargain, and now you will keep yours," said the woman. "Put him on the steps," she instructed the men. They helped Oscar out to the steps and sat him down on the middle step, where they left him, returning to the building. "Now you come with us !" she said to Edward. He glanced back at Oscar who had turned to look at him. Their anxious eyes met for a moment and then the door closed between them.


	10. Chapter 10

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story.

"_You see. We have kept our side of the bargain, and now you will keep yours," said the woman. "Put him on the steps," she instructed the men. They helped Oscar out to the steps and sat him down on the middle step, where they left him, returning to the building. "Now you come with us !" she said to Edward. He glanced back at Oscar who had turned to look at him. Their anxious eyes met for a moment and then the door closed between them._

As his father's face disappeared behind the door, Oscar felt closer to despair than he had in many years. Unable to summon the strength to get up he sat on the doorstep shivering with cold. He heard footsteps running across the road towards him and looked up to see two MI9 medical personnel coming to him. They carefully cut off the gag and freed his hands. They gently helped him to his feet and supported him as they slowly and silently made their way across the road to the waiting black ambulance.

Oscar was made to lie down on a stretcher while they closed the doors and the ambulance set off. The paramedics attached monitors to his finger and chest and wrapped him in warm blankets. Emotionally numb and exhausted he was unable to answer their questions, staring blankly back into their kindly faces.

Oscar woke again in an MI9 hospital bed. A saline drip was now attached to his arm, along with another smaller bag of clear liquid. His injured leg was very painful with a deep, throbbing ache. A nurse came over to his bed. "Awake finally. Your leg hurting ?" Oscar tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry. He nodded. She held a cup of water to his mouth so he could take a sip.

"Thanks," he finally managed. She smiled and left the room.

A doctor in a white coat came into the room. "Agent Cole. Good to see you back in the land of the living. Let us have a look at your leg again," he said, letting the nurse pull back the blankets. Oscar looked down at his leg which looked red and swollen around the new dressing over the wound. "Who stitched you up ?" asked the doctor.

"Agent Dixon-Halliday," said Oscar. His voice still sounded hoarse. He swallowed in an attempt not to sound so feeble.

"Well, his stitching is not bad at all. I should get him teaching field dressing," said the doctor smiling. "Unfortunately it has since become quite badly infected. We've checked the antibiotics you were using, which were suitable, but we've had to replace them with another general purpose antibiotic. Once pathology have identified the bacterial infection we will replace it with a targeted antibiotic which should clear the infection up more effectively. In the mean time you will have to remain in bed. We can't risk the infection travelling through your blood stream and we can't risk the leg becoming gangrenous. Complete bed rest for now," he said. The nurse covered Oscar over again and the two left the room.

Oscar lay staring at the ceiling, feeling stunned. He'd lost his Dad and all he could do was lie in bed. The door to his room opened again and he was surprised to see the Head of MI9 come in.

"Agent Cole, I'm glad to see you're awake," she said. "Did you see anything useful while you were captured ?" she asked. Oscar shook his head.

"The waitress had a Southern African accent," he said hoarsely. He hated the way his voice sounded. He sounded so weak ! The Head pressed a switch and raised the head of his bed slightly. She handed him a cup of water. He tried to hold the cup, but his fingers were still quite numb after being tied tightly for so long. The cup slipped and the Head had to grab it again. She held the cup to his lips so he could get a good long drink this time. "Thanks," he said finally. His head fell back against the pillow. He was so tired.

"Yes, we've got a possible identification on the woman," said the Head. "We believe her mother died in an MI9 operation which your father was loosely associated with about ten years ago. It appears these people did not know that you are Agent Dixon-Halliday's son. Otherwise it might not have been so easy to extract you."

"They've got Dad though," said Oscar. He didn't mean to sound so desperate. It just came out that way. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I understand Agent Cole," she said. The Head appeared to be considering him and then she smiled slightly. "Agent Cole, I would not send any agent of mine alone into a trap without adequate support. Do you understand me ?" she said, leaning her head forward meaningfully. Oscar started to understand what she was getting at. The slight hope must have shown in his eyes, because the Head smiled more broadly at him. "I think you should concentrate on getting better. If your father returns to HQ to find you missing one of your legs, there will be hell to pay ! Good day Agent Cole !" she said, turning and leaving.

"Ma'am," whispered Oscar. He shifted position slightly in an attempt to ease the pain in his leg. The nurse came in again carrying a tray with hypodermic and phial.

"Some pain killer for you," she said. She injected his sore leg which made it hurt even more for a minute, but then the pain started to ease off. "There, that should see it off," she said, smiling efficiently. She lowered the bed again so that he was lying flat. The lack of pain was sending Oscar into a stupor. He was exhausted and it was an effort even to lift his hand to pull at the blanket. The nurse tucked him in and told him to get some rest. She dimmed the light and left the room. Oscar let himself drift off to sleep. There was nothing else he could do. He had to trust his team to get his Dad back for him.

Carrie, Rose and Illya were sitting in front of computer terminals, wearing headphones. "How was Oscar ?" Rose asked Carrie, lifting off one of her headphones.

"Fast asleep when I looked in," said Carrie, pulling off one of her headphones. "They said he'd had mild hypothermia and his leg wound had become infected. He's not allowed to get out of bed for a couple of days. This one's up to us. We've got to get Edward back before Oscar starts coming round or he's going to be beside himself." Rose nodded to her and they put their headphones back on and turned back to the screens.

They were looking at a moving image of the inside of the blackmailers' secret headquarters. Edward was wearing contact lens cameras and a secret microphone was fixed to his neck, concealed as a mole. They could see and hear everything that he could. Technical had decided against giving him a tracking device in case it was detected. This turned out to be a good decision because the blackmailers had done a scan to search for tracking devices. The team had temporarily stopped the contact lenses and microphone from transmitting for a couple of minutes to make them harder to find. This appeared to have worked. When they switched them back on, Edward was being led through the facility with the surveillance devices still intact.

"You haven't carried out all these atrocities just to get me have you ?" he asked.

"No. You are going to help us with a few details," said the woman. "You may call me Theresa," she instructed. "I will call you Edward. It will be quicker," she added. She led him down steps into a cellar area. There was a large room with comfortable chairs and a table. An open door led into a much smaller room with brick walls and a single metal chair. He noticed drips of blood on the floor by one of the chair legs. He didn't have to ask where Oscar had spent the night. "If you behave yourself we can sit in the large room. If you are going to cause trouble we can use the smaller room. Which will it be ?" she asked, waving the gun. The two men who had helped Oscar up the stairs came down behind them. They also had weapons. Clearly fighting was not an option, so he may as well be comfortable.

"I'll take the sofa if that's OK with you," said Edward. She motioned him over and he sat down. "What is the point of all this ?" asked Edward.

"The point ? The point Edward is that we like to make a point," said Theresa. "The point is that we can do whatever we like and nobody can stop us. The point is that when we ask for something, we expect to get it." Edward tried to read her emotions, but her face was a mask. He had no idea where this was going.

"What were you going to do with two tonnes of gold ?" asked Edward. "You can't exactly slip it into your pocket !"

"No of course not. We were simply making a point," said the woman. "Our requirements are going to be much more specific from now on. So, to business. I need some information from you." She looked more animated. "There was an organisation in Africa which you may remember," she said, looking into his face. He nodded.

"I think I know the one you mean," he said.

"Good. There was an attack on a compound and a number of people were killed, including my mother," said Theresa. She looked as though she were struggling to maintain control.

"Anna De Boek ?" asked Edward. She nodded.

"I want to know who killed her," said the woman.

"Well, I can answer that," said Edward. The woman looked surprised.


	11. Chapter 11

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story.

"_There was an attack on a compound and a number of people were killed, including my mother," said Theresa. She looked as though she were struggling to maintain control._

"_Anna De Boek ?" asked Edward. She nodded._

"_I want to know who killed her," said the woman._

"_Well, I can answer that," said Edward. The woman looked surprised._

"The team which tried to capture the terrorist base was lead by an MI9 agent called Alice Walthrop. She led a group of six agents which attempted to take over the compound. They met with resistance and the situation deteriorated into a pitched battle. Two agents and four of the terrorist group died," said Edward, as if he were reporting a mission to the Head of MI9.

"You were not there ?" asked Theresa.

"No. I was busy trying to avoid capture in Mozambique," said Edward. "And failing as it happened. I was taken prisoner by the time the mission took place. I was held prisoner for seven years before I managed to escape."

"This woman, Alice Walthrop. Where is she ?" demanded Theresa.

"I'm afraid you're three years too late," said Edward. "She was killed on a mission in Turkey."

"I don't believe you !" shouted Theresa. "Why should I believe you ?"

"That's up to you," said Edward. "I looked up her file earlier today. I didn't know she was dead until then."

Theresa jumped to her feet and paced up and down. "You don't know what it's like. My mother was taken from me ! If her group hadn't taken me in, I would have had nobody to take care of me !" she shouted.

"I don't know what it was like, you're right. But I do know someone who does. My son was abandoned by his mother not long after I was captured. He's grown up in safe houses under an MI9 witness protection scheme," said Edward. "You're not the only casualty !" he said bitterly.

"You have a son ? I would like to talk to him !" said Theresa sarcastically.

"Well, you had your chance, but you didn't remove his gag," said Edward.

She stood staring at him in silence. "That boy ! That boy with the sad eyes is your son ?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes," said Edward, wondering if he really ought to have told her. She swore in Afrikaans.

"He looks nothing like you !" she said.

"No, he's good looking isn't he ?" smiled Edward. In spite of her anger she snorted a laugh.

"So. You are here to deliver a message to your government for us," said Theresa, now much calmer.

"Can't you use the newspapers ?" asked Edward.

"There is no need. You can do it," she said. "We have demands. If these demands are not met, we will take action. First you are going to help us with one of our preparations."

"What kind of preparations ?" asked Edward warily.

"We have planned a mission and you are going to help us get through security," she said.

"And if I don't ?" asked Edward.

"Then we will kill you," she said, "and your son will also be an orphan."

"Are you going to kill anyone ?" asked Edward.

"Not if you can help us to avoid it," said Theresa.

"Alright, I'll help you, provided you're not going to kill anyone," said Edward.

"Good. Come with us !" she instructed. Edward got up, as did the two guards and they all followed Theresa up the stairs. She took him up a couple of flights of stairs into what must have been the attic space. As he stepped out he could hear many people talking and the sound of people typing on keyboards. To his astonishment the room stretched in front of him for what must have been a hundred metres or so. He turned and the room stretched in the other direction nearly as far. This room was made up of the attic of nearly every house in the street. It was filled with banks of computers and rows of desks, most of which were occupied by people wearing headphones and typing. It looked like some vast call centre.

"You selling insurance ?" asked Edward.

"No, we are supporting anarchists throughout the world," said Theresa smiling. It was a slightly mad smile. It was the smile of an evangelist. "We are bringing freedom and equality to everyone. Governments want to govern what we say and do. We will set everyone free !" she proclaimed.

Edward looked in disbelief at the scale of the operation. He could see maybe 40 people working in this room and it was the middle of the night.

"I can see you are impressed," said Theresa.

"Why are you showing me this ?" asked Edward.

"Oh, we move our operational headquarters regularly. We will not be staying here for much longer. By the time you deliver our message to your government, we will have moved on to another location. We never stay for long in one place," said Theresa confidently. "And now, our mission," she said, leading him to a small group of desks nearby. "Michael, would you please explain our operation to Edward ? He is going to be dealing with security for us," she asked a young man at one of the desks. He looked up suspiciously at Edward, noted the two guards with Theresa and twisted his monitor so they could see it.

"This is a top secret military intelligence base north of London," explained Michael." The scene on his computer was of a group of nondescript inter-linked warehouse type buildings on an industrial estate. "They are storing decryption codes there which we need to break into some sensitive data streams," he paused, looking at Theresa. She shook her head very slightly. "The buildings are protected by security which can only be accessed by the right levels of security clearance. That is presumably why you are here," he said to Edward.

"I don't know what security level is required," said Edward. "Nobody can get into everywhere you know !" he said warily.

"Can you find out if you have got access ?" asked Theresa.

Edward thought about it for a moment. "I could probably arrange to get access if I don't already have it," he said thoughtfully. "I will need to make a call," he added. He looked at Theresa and she nodded. They handed him his mobile phone which they had removed before taking him into the building.

"One call, and no tricks !" ordered Theresa.

"No tricks," promised Edward. He called the security control desk. "Give me the address," he hissed to Michael, who showed him the location on the computer screen. "Oh, hello Security ?" asked Edward. "I need access permission for a building north of London. Sorry I don't know the building code. Yes, I know it's a bit unorthodox. I didn't have time to get it. Bit of a hurry, you know how it goes. Yes, well thanks for that. My ID is 229585 Bravo Delta Foxtrot. Yes, Edward Dixon-Halliday. Yes, it's 'Bananas in Pyjamas'." Edward ignored the raised eyebrows around him. He rested himself on the edge of the desk while he waited for a reply. "Yes, the location is Leavesden. Yes, that's the one thanks. You've put it on ? Great. Oh I only need it for a couple of days thanks. Great ! Thanks for all your help. Bye !" he rang off. "It's on my card," he said. "You haven't lost it I assume ?"

Theresa held out Edwards' Id card. "Your access is on here ?" she asked.

"Yes, but you will need me to be there with it," said Edward. "It's biometric."

"We could probably get around that," said Michael menacingly.

"You could remove a few body parts," agreed Edward. "However, there's a bit more to it than just getting through the door."

"He's coming with us," said Theresa. "The mission is tomorrow afternoon," she said to Edward. "You should get some rest now. I will come for you tomorrow," she added. She nodded to the two men guarding Edward and they gestured back towards the stairs. They took Edward back down the stairs and led him to a small room containing a bed and bathroom facilities.

"Get some sleep. You will be busy tomorrow," said one of the guards in stilted English. They left, locking the door behind them. Edward checked the door and found it was metal. The window had bars on the outside. This was a secure room. He decided he might as well take a break. "Get ready for tomorrow," he said to nobody in particular.


	12. Chapter 12

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story. Sorry it's been a long break. I can only seem to work on one story at a time.

"_Get some sleep. You will be busy tomorrow," said one of the guards in stilted English. They left, locking the door behind them. Edward checked the door and found it was metal. The window had bars on the outside. This was a secure room. He decided he might as well take a break. "Get ready for tomorrow," he said to nobody in particular._

Rose, Carrie and Illya watched in fascination as Edward was given his tour of the building. They patched the feed through to the Head so that she could see the setup. "Look at the size of this place," said Rose, amazed. "It's run like a business !"

"They must be getting funding from somewhere," commented Carrie. They listened intently as Edward was asked to help gain access to the secure building. Rose's phone rang. It was Edward pretending to call the Security Control Desk.

"Hello, yes we're getting everything. Yes, we'll make sure you can get into that building tomorrow afternoon... Yep, there is an installation in that location. Your pass card will get you in by tomorrow and we'll arrange things so that you don't have any problems... Oscar is OK. His leg is badly infected and he had mild hypothermia, but the doctors are looking after him. Good luck Edward. Bye," said Rose.

She turned to the others. "We need to get them into that building. I wonder what they are after ?" The desk phone rang and Rose put it on loudspeaker. It was the Head.

"Good work team. This group appears to have been operating right under our noses for some time. Perhaps it's just as well they brought themselves to our attention. I think they can't help themselves sometimes. They just have to prove that they're really important. Now, we think we know what they're after. That building is a development site for security products which are produced for the intelligence services and they also supply the financial communications industry. We think they may be trying to gain access to financial information," said the Head.

"If they're anarchists, shouldn't they be trying to bring down governments ?" asked Carrie, puzzled.

"If they were able to destabilise the financial markets, they could easily bring down a government," said the Head. "Our technical team have been told about some unusual traffic around financial transactions in the City of London recently. The City technical people believe someone has been trying to gain access to key financial transactions. They could either be after information or trying to divert funds into their own accounts. They have to be getting the money for all this equipment from somewhere. They're not walking the streets with collection boxes !" she added. "I think we would have noticed 'Help the Anarchists' day," she said drily.

"I am organising the setup at the security installation tomorrow. All of the staff are going to be replaced with our agents. We are going to give them controlled access to whatever they want. If it is possible to extract Agent Dixon-Halliday during the exercise we will do so. If not, we will have to let him return with the Anarchists. We need to find out what their next move is going to be. It sounds like they intend to tell Agent Dixon-Halliday what it is. We will have to play it by ear," said the Head.

"Who amongst you has been seen by the woman from the cafe ?" asked the Head. Rose told her that both she and Carrie had been in the cafe, but that Illya had not been seen. "Good, well Agent Gordovski can coordinate at the installation. Agent Gupta can coordinate from HQ. I also want a watch on this building in East London, without attracting attention. I would like Agent Stewart to organise that. Make sure you get some rest tonight and keep me updated on progress," she instructed. The team got busy setting up their different duties. Rose and Illya left for the duty rest rooms in HQ which were used by agents in the middle of missions. Carrie was going to follow when she decided she would look in on Oscar. If he'd woken up he might be feeling a bit isolated on his own and he would probably want to know that his Dad was alright.

She arrived at the nurses' station in the hallway and asked after Oscar. The nurse looked up and smiled at her in recognition. "I'm afraid the surgeon is in there at the moment, examining Agent Cole's leg," she said apologetically. "They won't be a minute."

Carrie realised the significance of what the nurse had just told her. "The surgeon ? Why are they here ? Isn't Oscar getting better ?" she asked, worried.

"I'm afraid the infection has got a little worse. We're still waiting for the test results for a better antibiotic. The one we've been using seems to have slowed the progress of the infection, but hasn't managed to cure it. I'm afraid your friend is quite ill. The surgeon is here to check what might be needed if we can't get on top of the infection," said the nurse.

"How long before you have to, you know, amputate ?" asked Carrie.

"We need to turn things round in the next two hours really, or it will be too late to do anything," said the nurse. "The results should be here in the next half hour."

"Is that going to be in time ?" asked Carrie.

"We have to hope it is," said the nurse. "I'm sorry it's not better news. I'm sure he would be really pleased to see you. He is very unwell and obviously it's affecting his mood." As she finished speaking the door to Oscar's room opened and the doctor and another man came out.

"We'll call you in two hours if there's no improvement," said the doctor to the other man as they walked up to the nurses' station. "Nurse, would you please set up some monitoring for the patient ? I want heart, temperature and blood monitoring please," instructed the doctor. The nurse nodded and went off into a nearby room, returning with a tray of equipment. She smiled at Carrie and gestured her to follow.

The two women walked into Oscar's room and the first thing Carrie noticed was a strange smell forcing its way through the overall disinfected hospital smell. Oscar looked round and she forced a smile for him, trying to hide her revulsion at the smell of his festering wound. She was relieved she couldn't see it. The nurse started attaching connectors to Oscar's chest and fingers and linking them up to the equipment bank behind his bed. Soon there were beeps and blinks blipping away behind him. The nurse left and Carrie walked up beside Oscar.

"Hey, how are you doing ?" she asked. He looked sweaty and grey. The set of his jaw showed he was in a lot of pain.

"Some guy was in measuring my leg," said Oscar. "Guess I'm not going to be running around with you for much longer !" he said bitterly. There was desperation in his eyes.

"Wow there ! You've still got two as far as I can see and until the guy comes in holding a carving knife, you're keeping them OK ?" said Carrie, as brightly as she could manage. "I thought you might want to hear about your Dad," she said. Oscar turned back sharply to look at her.

"Is he OK ?" Oscar asked.

"He's fine. The woman from the cafe is an agent in an anarchists' organisation. They wanted your Dad to help them get hold of some security codes so they can break into some financial transactions. They didn't realise you were his son. They've put your Dad in a secure bedroom so he can rest before they attempt tomorrow's operation. We're going to make sure he leads them successfully through it," explained Carrie. Oscar looked puzzled.

"How do you know all this ?" he asked.

"Because your Dad's wired of course," she said grinning. "We can see and hear everything he sees and hears. We're watching him all the time and tracking where they go. A team will be there to meet them tomorrow afternoon and make sure we get your Dad back safely. You don't have to worry about him," she said. "We've got his back."

Oscar looked happy for a moment but then his mood changed again. "I won't be any use to him," he said.

"What do you mean ?" asked Carrie. She didn't understand what Oscar was on about.

"If I lose my leg, Dad won't have me on his team. He won't need me any more," said Oscar. "He'll send me away." Carrie was shocked to hear him talk like this. She'd always suspected that Oscar had low self-esteem because of the way his mother had rejected him, but she hadn't realised how frightened he was of his Dad giving up on him too.

"Oscar ! You can't believe that ! Your Dad would rather give up MI9 than give up you," she said.

"Do you think so," Oscar asked pleadingly.

"Oscar, I know so," said Carrie. "You must be the only person who doesn't," she said, now unable to keep a tear out of her eye. She leant over, stroked his hair and kissed him on the forehead. He felt hot and damp to the touch. She took his hand, trying to avoid the monitor slotted over his forefinger, and stroked it gently.

"Hey Osc, what do we have to do to make you realise how much we love you ?" she asked kindly, still stroking his hair. His eyes hesitantly met hers. His fear versus her optimism. For a second she saw a spark of the old Oscar glinting in his eyes.

"Well, I can think of something," he said, the smallest smile on his lips.

"Hey, cheeky !" she grinned, delighted to have made one small dent in his depression. The door opened and the nurse rushed in. She was carrying a plastic container and tube. She pulled off one of the bags hanging above Oscar's head and replaced it with the new one. Then she pulled one of the tubes out of the attachment on his wrist and inserted the new tube.

"There ! New antibiotic for you. This one should kill off those germs," said the nurse determinedly. She then taped a notice to the bed behind Oscar's head while he was still looking at his wrist. Carrie looked at it. "Nil by Mouth" it read. The nurse gave her an apologetic smile and then spoke to Oscar. "This is the one we've been waiting for. It's targeted at the specific germs in your wound. Speaking of which, it's time I cleaned it again for you." The nurse put on a plastic apron and gloves, pulled the sheets back and started working on Oscar's leg. Carrie risked a peek and was repulsed by the sight of the puss-filled cut on Oscar's red and swollen leg. The nurse washed it out with sterile water and redressed it. "There, that should sort you out for a while. Give those drugs a chance to work. You can have one more dose of painkiller if you like ?" she offered Oscar. He nodded.

"Sounds like progress," said Carrie. Oscar looked at her gratefully.

"Hope so," he said. The nurse returned with a needle and phial and injected it into his good leg. Carrie watched Oscar's face relax as the pain receded. He now looked exhausted. Oscar looked directly into Carrie's eyes. "Carrie, you've been my friend and family for four years. They've been four of the best years of my life. I want you to know that," said Oscar. "I was just existing until I met up with you, Rose and Frank. You made me hope again, and I love you," he said simply.

Carrie was deeply touched. She bent over and kissed Oscar again, this time on the lips, then touched their foreheads together. "You get some sleep," she whispered. "I'll come back with your Dad when we've sorted out this bunch of anarchists OK ?" Oscar nodded, rested his head back and closed his eyes. After a minute his breathing was steady and slow. He was asleep. Carrie put his hand back down gently on the bed and then left the room. "Sleep tight Oscar," she whispered.


	13. Chapter 13

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story.

"_You get some sleep," she whispered. "I'll come back with your Dad when we've sorted out this bunch of anarchists OK ?" Oscar nodded, rested his head back and closed his eyes. After a minute his breathing was steady and slow. He was asleep. Carrie put his hand back down gently on the bed and then left the room. "Sleep tight Oscar," she whispered._

Carrie was torn for a moment trying to decide if she ought to stay with Oscar and wait to see what happened with his leg or go and get some rest before the long shift in the morning. She decided that Oscar would never forgive them if he woke up without a father. She suspected he would rather lose his leg.

Work started early for Illya. He and a team of agents had to sneak into the secret security code installation unseen. Most were travelling in a delivery van and others arrived in the cars of the regular employees. A team had spent most of the night organising it all. The staff who worked at the installation had spent their night altering and planting different security software ready to be stolen. Illya thought he had the easy job. All he had to do was turn up and act a part. He had only had about four hours sleep, like most of the other agents in the team. There was a lot of stifled yawning going on in the van.

Sitting in the back of a windowless van was starting to give him motion sickness. He decided to distract himself by 'testing' his communications. "Hey Rose, you there yet ?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'yet'," answered Rose, sounding insulted. "I've been here for the last hour, thankyou very much !"

"OK, sorry," said Illya. "We're nearly there now I think. I hate sitting in the back of these vans. I start to feel sick after a while."

Rose's voice came back, much more sympathetically this time, "Oh me too ! It's the pits isn't it ?" He heard her speaking to someone else in the background. "The installation is all ready for you. The last of the people involved in the setup have all sneaked out. You will be clear to get yourself in position and get a feel for the place. Make sure you can find your way round won't you ?" she asked anxiously.

"Oh yeah. Don't want to take them into the storage cupboard by mistake !" laughed Illya. "I did that on one assignment. I marched a whole group of arms traders into the photocopier room."

Rose gasped. "What did you do ?"

"Oh, I told them I had to pick up a document," said Illya. "Luckily there was one lying on top of the printer. They looked at me like I was crazy, but they went with it."

"Oh hang on Illya, Carrie's calling," said Rose.

"Hey guys, it's Carrie, erm Agent Stewart," said Carrie's voice. "We're watching the anarchists' base. They look like they're on the move. Four large black vans just setting off down the street. You're going to have a whole fleet of black vans out there soon. Hope you remember where you parked !" joked Carrie.

"Thanks Carrie," said Illya. "I think we're just pulling in now. I guess the black van is what the fashionable master criminal has to have nowadays," he said. "They're stealing our look !"

Rose laughed. "You just concentrate. I want you back in one piece please Illya !" she pleaded.

"I am always careful," said Illya trying to sound hurt.

"Photocopier room ?" Rose reminded him.

"Oh yeah. That," said Illya, shrugging.

"What about the photocopier room ?" asked Carrie.

"I'll tell you later," promised Rose. "OK Ed-cam is showing Edward in the back of a van with a load of other people. Looks cosy in there ! They're coming heavy-handed guys."

"Ed-cam ? Seriously Rose ?" Carrie laughed.

"So ? Nothing wrong with that !" complained Rose.

"OK, I need to get busy. We've arrived," announced Illya. "Speak later OK ?" The others said their goodbyes.

"So, I guess the anarchists' buildings must be pretty much empty if all those people are in the vans," said Rose.

"I was thinking the same thing," said Carrie. "I think a recce might be in order. I'll ask the Head and let you know what we decide to do," she said. "Speak later Rose !" After a moment Rose had only Edward's inside view and the chatter of various MI9 agents over the comms system to listen to.

Edward was sitting in the back of another van, trying to avoid close contact with the anarchists travelling with him. This wasn't easy as they were packed into the van like sardines. Some sat on benches down the side of the van and the others sat on the floor in between, Edward amongst them. Bags of equipment were wedged in between them. Some of the anarchists had a very loose relationship with personal hygiene. Edward promised himself he would never again criticise Oscar's choice of toiletries. Anything was better than the rank body odour he was currently surrounded by. Edward sighed. He wished he was back at HQ helping Oscar.

He had a job to do. First he had to make it look hard getting into the secret installation without hurting anyone, and second he had to find out what these people were planning. He glanced up at Theresa. "Getting these codes isn't going to get you through all Government security you know," he said.

She smiled. "I don't need to get through Government security," she said. One of the other anarchists nudged her arm and frowned.

Edward felt pleased. The target was clearly not a Government one and they didn't want him to know this. Good. Theresa looked like she was the one most likely to give away information. All he needed was to be left alone with her. Of course, that was exactly what didn't happen next. The vans arrived and Edward was pushed forward in the van so he could deal with the site security. With a gun pointed low in his back he leaned out of the van window to speak into the speaker at the gate. "Agent Dixon-Halliday. I should have an appointment," he said.

"We don't have a record of any appointment," said a tinny voice over the speaker.

"I do. I have my Id," assured Edward. He waved his pass at the proximity lock. The gate immediately started to swing open.

"This is most unorthodox !" complained the voice. "Please report to reception." The van holding Edward drove through the gate quickly and the other three tailgated through behind them. The last one barely missed the closing gate.

Edward walked into the reception waiting room with Theresa and one of the others. He didn't recognise the man at the desk. "I definitely do not have a record of your appointment !" complained the man.

"Yes, you must. Doctor Dalmatian," said Edward. "Here let me help you to look," he encouraged, stepping round the desk, standing next to the man and running his left hand down the list of appointments. His right hand reached up and pinched the nerve in the man's neck. He froze in position and Edward caught him and dragged him into a small CCTV room behind the desk. He tied the man up as gently as he could to still look convincing and left him there. Theresa went back to the door and waved in the rest of her team. Edward was shocked to see how many of them there were. It was going to be difficult to control this many people. He hoped things didn't get out of hand.


	14. Chapter 14

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story.

_Theresa went back to the door and waved in the rest of her team. Edward was shocked to see how many of them there were. It was going to be difficult to control this many people. He hoped things didn't get out of hand._

Edward spoke to Theresa. "You've brought a lot of people. I don't know if I can get this many people into the building and out again undetected. Why do you need so many ?" he asked.

"You don't need to worry about that," she said, smiling. "Just find what we want. We'll deal with the rest."

Unhappily, Edward turned to the main entrance door. "OK. Follow me then," he instructed. The group formed a queue. They were surprisingly orderly for a bunch of anarchists, he thought. He'd expected more of a rabble.

He took the passcard from the security man at reception and used it to open the inner doors. They walked through into a corridor lined with numbered doors. Each had a security lock on it. At the end of the corridor was another locked door. The security guard's pass wouldn't open this one. Edward cursed under his breath and decided to try his own. He breathed a sigh of relief when this one worked. The doors opened and they entered a room filled with computer equipment. Wearing a white lab coat was a young man with blond hair. He turned round to face Edward and looked shocked to see the people pouring into the room behind him. It was Illya.

Edward smiled at Illya and glanced at his passcard. "Good morning Dr. Kostakov. I've brought some visitors," he said.

Illya frowned. "We were not told of visitors. Why are there so many ?" he asked.

"That is none of your concern," announced Theresa. "Bring us the codes !" she ordered.

Illya jumped back and said, "What is the meaning of this ? Security !" he shouted, reaching towards and alarm on the wall. Edward grabbed him before he could make it.

"I really think you ought to do as they say," he said firmly. He didn't want Illya to play up too much. He knew they wouldn't hesitate to hurt him. People's heads were starting to pop up all over the open-plan office like meerkats. The anarchists started to spread out quickly across the room, waving weapons at the staff members.

"Everybody please stand and put your hands on your heads !" shouted one of the men. "We will not hesitate to shoot anyone who disobeys. Step away from the computers !" he ordered. To Edward's relief everyone did as they were told. The anarchists waved all the people over to line up next to Illya's desk. Edward realised that he recognised half of them. They were MI9 agents ! Brilliant ! Edward's mood instantly changed from one of resignation to determination. They were going to take these people down !

"Tie them up," ordered Theresa. "Not that one," she said, pointing at Illya. All of the agents, including Edward were then tied up and made to sit against the wall by the entrance door. The anarchists then spread out across the room and took up the computer stations which had been left by the agents. "Do you have access ?" Theresa asked them. There was nodding and confirmations from across the office. "Good. Get to work !" she instructed. Then she turned to Illya, standing beside her looking bewildered. "You ! I want the access codes for these !" she instructed him, handing over a piece of paper.

Illya looked at the paper and hesitated. Instantly the anarchists pulled out guns and pointed them at the agents tied up along the wall. "OK, OK, I am doing it alright ?" said Illya, sounding panicky. "Please, stay calm," he pleaded. Glancing again at the paper he went to his computer station and started typing on the keyboard and pulling up different screens. The guns were put away again as he worked. "These ?" he said, pointing to his screen. Theresa leaned over his desk, along with another man.

"Yes. Good," she said, looking at the other man who also nodded and smiled. "Distribute them to the other stations," she instructed, pointing to the desks around the room. Illya wasn't sure how to do this. Luckily as he tapped on the keyboard, all the files he had found started distributing themselves around the room. Looked like Rose had realised he needed help. "Do you all have what you need ?" she asked her team. They confirmed they were happy. "Good. Get to work. Soon we will have total control," she said smiling. "You, with the others !" she ordered Illya, waving him over to the rest of the group.

Earlier, while Illya was travelling to the installation, Carrie and a small team of agents were casing the anarchists' headquarters. "I think they've all gone," Carrie told Rose. "There's no sign of activity whatsoever. We've monitored for keyboard activity and there's nothing. What are you getting ?" she asked Rose.

"The electricity usage has dropped and there are no phone calls or mobile calls being made from the building," said Rose. "I think you're right. They must all have gone with Edward. Why don't you try to get into the building ?" she suggested. "It can't hurt."

Carrie gathered her team and headed for an empty building at the end of the row. They broke into a back door and headed up into the roof space. Stepping carefully across the rafters they came to the brick partition wall separating this attic from the one next door. An agent used a listening device up against the wall. He shook his head. "Nothing. Sounds like there's nobody there," he said.

"OK, lets go through," said Carrie. Grinning, the agents picked up sledge hammers and pick axes and laid into the wall. After only a minute they were surrounded by dust and rubble and a large hole had opened up into the room next door. As the dust cleared, Carrie and the others pointed weapons at the hole and realised that the darkened room next door was empty. Checking for loose bricks over head, they carefully climbed through and spread out across the room next door. Someone found a light switch and suddenly the room was bathed in bright light. It was deserted. There were desks and computers just as they had seen from Edward's hidden camera. "Rose, they've left everything," said Carrie. "It's empty here. Shall we see what we can find ?" she asked.

"Check for booby traps first," suggested Rose.

"Good point," agreed Carrie. The agents spread out and started to check for any hidden explosives or traps. One of the agents called her over. She had found a device attached to one of the computer servers at the far side of the room. They sent details through to the technical team, who told them how to disable it. After a thorough search they had found four different devices set up to explode. They were all disabled. "OK," said Carrie. "Let's get busy. Find out everything you can and see what you can get access to," she ordered. Everyone got busy.

Carrie connected Rose and the technical team up with access into the anarchists' computers. She was finding some large software files but wasn't sure what they were. One was called 'Markets-Sim' and seemed to have been finished quite recently. "Rose, have you seen this file called 'Markets-Sim' ?" Carrie asked.

"Yes. We're trying it out," said Rose. "Hm. It appears to be a simulation of financial trading systems," she said. "It looks like they've been trying out a way of manipulating all the financial transactions running through the City of London."

"And in English ?" asked Carrie.

"I think they're testing a way of making money go where they want it to go instead of where it should go," explained Rose.

"Wow. That could cause chaos," commented Carrie.

"I think that's what they're all about aren't they, anarchists," said Rose.

"So, they've left this building and rigged it up to explode. They've got a simulation where they're trying out software to move money around how they want to. They've taken all of their people to our secret installation where they write the codes to protect the financial markets communications systems," said Carrie. "I think I know what they're going to do."

"Me too," said Rose. "And they're going to do it from our installation. They've got no intention of coming back to their old HQ. That's why it was so easy for you to get in there. They think it's no use to them any more."

"So, what do we do now ?" asked Carrie.

"I've got an idea," said Rose.


	15. Chapter 15

Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story. Last chapter. Hope you liked it.

"_So, what do we do now ?" asked Carrie._

"_I've got an idea," said Rose._

Edward watched the anarchists working at their computers in silence. They had obviously drilled for this mission. Theresa wandered over to them with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. "So, I expect that MI9 have gained access to our old headquarters by now," she said. She nodded to one of the men in her group. He pulled out a remote control device from his bag and brought it over to her. She showed it to Edward. There were four buttons on the box. "It's time for the fireworks," said Theresa, smiling. She pressed each of the buttons in turn. "There ! I imagine your agents burn as well as anything else in the building," she said, smiling at him. Edward licked his lips nervously. He really hoped the team had dealt with any explosives before they entered the building. Of course they would. Wouldn't they ?

"Why don't we have a look at the news ?" asked Theresa merrily. Her colleague opened a feed to the BBC website. There was a live feed of news coming through. The broadcast was interrupted by a newsreader. "News coming through of a massive series of explosions in the East End of London this morning. A huge fire is burning in the Brick Lane area. It's not clear whether this was a gas explosion or the work of terrorists," explained the voice. They showed pictures of a large fire in some houses and then returned to the other stories of the day. Edward thought the newsreader's voice sounded strangely familiar. He couldn't place it. Then he got it and had to stop himself grinning widely. The anarchists were cheering and high fiving each other.

He looked round at Illya's worried face. Some of the other agents were looking pretty smug. They'd obviously worked it out too. "That voice sound familiar to you Dr. Kostakov ?" Edward whispered to Illya. Illya looked puzzled for a moment and then realisation crossed his face. He smiled for a split second and then wiped it off his face. Edward nudged Illya and nodded towards the ropes which they had been tied up with. Illya nodded and all of the agents started working silently to free themselves. As he wriggled in his bindings, Edward smiled inwardly. Unless the Head of MI9 had started moonlighting as a newsreader, everything was going swimmingly.

Theresa called to everyone to take their positions. All of the anarchists gathered round the computers and looked up at Theresa and the two men with her for their instructions. "Have you got your access codes now ?" asked one of the men. The people at the computers said they had. "Good. Starting with the US feed then," instructed the man. "Make the changes we planned. Next, I want Asia and then Europe. Get to work everyone. Our time is coming !" shouted the man. People started typing frantically. Theresa and the two men stood in front of Illya's computer and appeared to be watching what was unfolding.

"Edward, it is such a shame you can't watch with us," crowed Theresa. "Look at it all !" she laughed. "They won't know what's hit them until it's too late."

"Is it going into our accounts too ?" asked one of the men. "I need to get us tickets out of here today. We're going to our new HQ tomorrow everyone. Be ready for the new world order !" he shouted. Everyone cheered.

Someone called over that the money was in their accounts. The man sat down and pulled up airline booking sites and started buying air tickets using a list he had prepared. This seemed to take a lot longer than getting access to the financial data. Edward blessed the people who made those airline sites so time-consuming. It was taking him ages to get out of his ropes. He glanced along the row of agents. He got a lot of nods back from the others. The anarchists seemed to be largely ignoring them now. They were engrossed in buying tickets and watching money moving around in hyper-space.

Edward looked over towards the entrance door. He could see a face peering through the glass panel from the outside. He nodded to them and they nodded back and ducked back out of site. He looked at Illya and raised his eyebrows. Illya nodded and turned to the other agents. "Arm !" he whispered. Each agent reached to some part of their body. A woman pulled a hair clip from her hair and straightened it into a stiletto knife. An agent pulled pieces of metalwork from his pockets and his sock, putting together a small gun. Another man pulled a belt from his trousers and loaded the buckle with a weight he took from his shoe.

There was a bang and a crash and the door exploded inwards. Agents in combat gear burst through the door, streaming out into the office space. Edward and the hostage agents dived for cover behind desks and partitions, before also rushing the anarchists at their desks. The anarchists were caught by surprise because they were so engrossed in what they were doing and so confident of their own success. Still, it was a wild fight. Some guns were fired at first, but once the anarchists were disarmed the battle fell back to unarmed combat. Edward took particular pleasure in dealing with Theresa. She fought hard, but he was settling some scores of his own.

"I lost friends in that attack on your mother's compound you know !" he shouted.

"MI9 killed her !" screamed Theresa, making a jab at his head.

"Do you even care how many people she killed ?" yelled Edward. "You people kick off your campaigns against the world and you don't care who you hurt. It's our job to deal with you so you can't hurt any more people. If you take us on, you get what you deserve !" he shouted. With this he got one final kick at her and took her legs out from under her. He grabbed her arms and pinned her to the floor. Illya leapt in and handcuffed her to a filing cabinet. She sat screaming abuse but they ignored her and helped the other agents to finish the job.

Finally, all the anarchists were either dead or in custody. Panting, Edward and Illya stood in the centre of the room together.

"You haven't won !" yelled Theresa. "We've turned the finance markets upside down ! The world will be in chaos tomorrow ! You've lost MI9 !" she shouted, and burst out laughing. Many of the conscious anarchists joined in with her.

"Oh, I don't think so !" laughed Illya. Edward looked at him in surprise.

"It didn't work ?" Edward asked, quietly.

"I'll put Rose on the line," said Illya, smiling. Rose's voice came over a speaker in the office.

"Oh, yes, well you probably think everything went really well don't you ?" she asked. "It must have been just like the tests you did on your simulation software. There's a reason for that. Carrie ?" she asked.

"Oh yeah ! Just like a simulation," laughed Carrie's voice. "I'm sitting in your old office guys. Thanks for leaving the simulation software for us. It was really helpful of you. You have successfully moved hundreds of finance transactions," she paused for effect, "on you own software guys. Well done ! Result !" said Carrie, bursting out laughing.

"But it exploded ! I saw it on the news !" said Theresa, looking shocked.

"Nah !" said Carrie again. "If you worked for MI9 you would have recognised the newsreader. I tell you what Rose, if the Head of MI9 ever wants a job as a newsreader, she's a natural !" she laughed. Theresa started screaming and carried on for over ten minutes. In the end they had to give her a sedative to shut her up.

There were high fives amongst all the MI9 team. The anarchists sat silently with their heads hanging low.

Late in the day, Edward made it to the MI9 medical suite where he found Oscar dozing on and off. Carrie had updated him on how she had left Oscar so he was quite apprehensive that he would find him very ill. Sleepily, Oscar opened one eye and saw his father standing looking at him worriedly. "Dad ! You're back," he said, grinning in delight.

"How's the leg ?" Edwards asked softly. Oscar pointed at the bottom of the bed where there were clearly two legs under the blankets.

"It's there !" he said. "And it's staying there !"

Edward laughed at Oscar's exuberance. "I guess you're feeling better then," he said.

"I feel so much better, you wouldn't believe it !" said Oscar, who was clearly on a high from not feeling ill finally. "I was so worried about you," said Oscar, his mood seeming to come down suddenly.

"Hey, the old man can look after himself you know," complained Edward. "And if I can't, there's always Rose and Carrie to get me out of trouble," he said shrugging. He smiled at Oscar. "We got away with it again, son. Hug ?" Oscar nodded. Edward gathered him up in his arms and they held onto one another for minutes. "I tell you what son," said Edward. "You smell a hell of a lot better than the average anarchist." Oscar had no idea what his Dad was talking about, but they were still together and he didn't care.


End file.
